Arkia Sold Athens-Taba Seats as Electra Flew Them

Arkia put Athens-Taba tickets on sale at $359 one way on March 1, 2026, a day after Israel shut its airspace for the war with Iran. Electra Airways of Bulgaria would fly the Airbus A320s. Passengers still had to get off in Egypt and walk into Israel at Taba.

The Israeli airline sold the seats on its site and through agents. The strip sat in Sinai. Israel’s National Security Council told anyone using that door to hide that they were Israeli.

How the Athens-Taba Bypass Worked

The hop was a bridge, not a holiday route. Travelers stuck in Europe flew into Athens, boarded an Electra jet marked with the 3E code, and landed at Taba International Airport. From there they crossed on land at the Menachem Begin crossing at Taba, then continued toward Eilat, about 10 kilometers north.

The same path ran in reverse for people trying to leave Israel. Arkia said the first board, “as of this stage,” covered only March 1 and March 2. Tickets were not on the global booking sites. They sat on Arkia’s website and with travel agents.

The Embassy of Greece in Tel Aviv posted the same Arkia spokesperson notice that morning, including the flight numbers. Carry-on trolleys cost an extra $20. A checked bag was $45. A passenger who took both paid $424 before any taxi, visa, or border fee.

THE FIRST PUBLISHED ATHENS-TABA BOARD

That $359 fare bought a seat with no trolley included, which is why the price landed badly next to weeks of government talk about airline profiteering. The metal on the route was not Arkia’s either.

Electra Airways Flew the Airbus A320s

Electra Airways is a Sofia charter specialist. Its public site describes charter and ACMI wet-lease work for other airlines, tour firms, and brokers, under a Bulgarian air operator certificate. In an ACMI deal the customer keeps the sales and the schedule. Electra supplies the jet, the crew, the maintenance, and the insurance.

Flight numbers on the Taba board all carried Electra’s 3E prefix. Arkia marketed the seats. The A320s that actually showed up in Sinai were Electra’s. The carrier has been part of the Vector Group since 2022, a holding company that also lists Classic Air, a capacity firm based in Tel Aviv and Cyprus. That Israeli-Cypriot sister shop never appeared in the Sunday rescue headlines.

Electra already had spring 2026 work in Egypt, including aircraft out on wet lease. Taba fit that map. For stranded families in Athens, the practical point was simpler. The jet that took them to the border would not be wearing Arkia’s colors when it pushed back.

Where the NSC and the Ambassador Split

On March 3, 2026, two days after the first Athens departure, the National Security Council put Taba on paper as part of a still-unlaunched “Lion’s Wings” return plan under the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Transport. Ben Gurion was shut. Tens of thousands of Israelis were still abroad. The council said people coming through Egypt should land only at Taba, then go directly from the airport to the border and not remain in Egypt, because the Level 4 travel warning was in force.

Upon arrival in Egypt, conceal anything that could identify you as Israeli or Jewish. Do not post updates or personal information on social media.

National Security Council, Lion’s Wings notice, March 3, 2026

The same notice said Lion’s Wings had not started and would launch in the coming days. Private groups were already landing in Taba, Sharm el-Sheikh, and other Sinai airports and driving to the Israeli line. Arkia’s commercial board had been live since March 1, ahead of the government program that was supposed to own this corridor.

WHERE OFFICIALS SPLIT ON TABA

• The NSC: Use Taba only as a sprint from jet to gate, then leave Egypt, and hide Israeli or Jewish markers while you do it.
• Arkia: Sell Athens-Taba seats as a two-way bypass while Ben Gurion is closed.
• The U.S. embassy: It cannot evacuate Americans, and Taba is the least-bad way out.

U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee wrote on March 3 that Americans in Israel had very limited options, that he did not recommend Jordan, and that the best path was an Israeli Ministry of Tourism shuttle to Taba and a flight from there or from Cairo.

For American who are currently in Israel I want to share this thorough (but long) update on options for departing. There are VERY LIMITED options.

As of now, the best is utilizing Israel's Ministry of Tourism shuttle bus to Taba, Egypt and getting flights from there or going…

— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) March 3, 2026

The ministry had begun those buses on March 2, with meeting points in Herzliya, Haifa, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv. Huckabee said the Taba crossing was open 24 hours, that some travelers owed a visa fee, and that U.S. citizens staying in Sinai did not. He also said Ben Gurion, even after it reopened, would have very limited flights, with priority for people already holding El Al tickets.

Cyprus Yachts Asked 1,500 Euros a Head

People who did not want Sinai, or could not reach Athens, looked at the water. Several sailing clubs billed “rescue sailings” between Israel and Cyprus. The Sailor Yacht Club, running Herzliya-Cyprus-Herzliya, asked about 1,500 euros a person for a crossing of roughly 30 hours.

Amit, one of the owners, said the club was receiving thousands of inquiries. The first boat was due out of Herzliya around 3 p.m. on March 1. He told each would-be passenger the same thing. Three double cabins, long hours on open water, no cellphone service, and a season that is not kind to that voyage. DreamSail advertised similar Israel-Cyprus runs.

That sea line was a different product from the later Ministry-backed Crown Iris sailings out of Limassol, which were priced much lower and timed at about 15 hours. The 1,500-euro yachts were private, slow, and already filling as Arkia’s first 3E9214 left Athens.

No New El Al Tickets Through March 21

El Al, on February 28 and March 1, said it was preparing a rescue operation once it had approval to fly. People who already held El Al tickets would go first. The airline was not selling new seats for departures through March 21, or until those holders had been moved. Canceled passengers could take a refund or a credit voucher. El Al also told customers not to reroute through other hubs yet.

By March 3, transport officials were planning a limited inbound reopening at Ben Gurion and saying El Al would keep using Taba as well. Wizz Air, on its own, added Sharm el-Sheikh flights to speed returns through Sinai. Taba was no longer an Arkia side door. It was the southern valve for the whole system.

WAYS HOME WHILE THE SKY WAS SHUT

• Athens-Taba air: Electra A320s sold by Arkia from $359 one way, then the land crossing into Eilat.
• Tourism Ministry buses: Shuttles to Taba from four Israeli cities, then flights out of Taba or Cairo.
• Private Cyprus yachts: About 1,500 euros and 30 hours, with no signal and rough water.
• El Al paper: Wait in the existing-ticket queue; no new sales through March 21.
• Sharm add-on: Wizz Air extra Sinai seats, a longer road to the same Egyptian coast.

Jordan stayed on the map and off the recommendation list. Huckabee called that exit unreliable. Flights through Amman were uneven, and the Allenby crossing had short hours.

Ben Gurion Came Back in Stages, Taba First

Flightradar24 logged Israeli airspace closed until 1000 UTC on February 28, 2026, as flights already bound for Tel Aviv and Amman turned away. The shutdown did not lift that morning. It held through the opening of the U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran, the stretch Israeli officials called Operation Roaring Lion.

Israel Airports Authority chairman Yiftach Ron-Tal said Israelis were already coming back through the land crossings. IAA chief executive Sharon Kedmi described the first inbound plan as one narrow-body jet an hour, about 200 passengers, then two such jets or one wide-body an hour, with a target of 8,000 to 9,000 arrivals a day if the ramp held. Until that happened, he said, rescue flights would keep using Taba and nearby countries.

THE SOUTHERN BYPASS CALENDAR

1. February 28, 2026: Israel closes its airspace after strikes on Iran; Flightradar24 shows the halt to 1000 UTC, then the ban sticks.
2. March 1, 2026: Arkia puts Electra-operated Athens-Taba flights on sale from $359 one way.
3. March 2, 2026: The Ministry of Tourism starts shuttle buses to Taba; the crossing runs around the clock.
4. March 3, 2026: The NSC publishes Lion’s Wings rules for Taba and says the state program is not live yet.
5. March 5, 2026: Ben Gurion is slated to take limited inbound rescue flights, one an hour at first.
6. April 8, 2026: The Transport Ministry reopens airspace and regular Ben Gurion operations at midnight after a ceasefire.
7. May 3, 2026: Arkia aims to restore a full schedule, still subject to security limits through May 2.

Ramon Airport in Eilat, the closest Israeli runway to Taba, was due to restart on Sunday, April 12. Herzliya Airport was due the morning after the April 8 midnight reopening. Foreign airlines, the Airports Authority warned, would come back only as their own regulators allowed. Arkia chief executive Oz Berlovitz said the rebuilt board was “influenced by the security situation and is based on temporary arrangements,” a line the airline also carried on Arkia’s wartime schedule updates as it added Athens, Larnaca, Rome, and other cities back onto Ben Gurion paper in April.

By then the first 3E9214 was six weeks in the past. The lesson from that Sunday morning was already in the system. When Tel Aviv’s runway goes dark, the spare airport is a Bulgarian A320, an Egyptian strip, and a 24-hour gate on the Eilat line, sold under an Israeli brand.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did travelers need an Egyptian visa for the Taba flights?

Israelis headed only for Egypt’s designated Red Sea coastal belt, from Taba toward Sharm el-Sheikh and Saint Catherine, can enter that strip for a short stay without getting a visa in advance, which is the usual Taba tourist rule. Huckabee said some other nationalities owed a visa fee, and that U.S. citizens who were not leaving Sinai for the rest of Egypt did not. Anyone who planned to linger, or to go on to Cairo by road, faced a different Egyptian entry process than the airport-to-gate sprint the NSC wanted.

Where did the Ministry of Tourism buses pick people up?

The March 2 shuttle list used four meeting points: the Herzliya train-station parking lot, the Yad HaShmona train-station parking lot in Haifa, the east parking lot at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv’s Savidor Center train station. Passengers had to register on the ministry’s evacuation form. The U.S. embassy said it could not put anyone on those buses and would not endorse them, only pass along the information.

When did Eilat’s Ramon Airport reopen after the shutdown?

The Transport Ministry said Ramon would restart on Sunday, April 12, 2026, four days after Ben Gurion went back to regular operations at midnight on April 8. For the weeks before that, the closest working passenger runway to southern Israel was Taba’s, on the Egyptian side of the same Red Sea strip.

What does Electra’s 3E code on the tickets mean?

3E is Electra Airways’ IATA designator. The March 1 and March 2 Taba flights were filed as 3E9212, 3E9214, and 3E9215, which is why the boarding pass did not read as an Arkia flight number even though Arkia took the money. Electra is based in Sofia, holds Bulgarian AOC BG-60, and sells ACMI hours rather than a consumer brand in Israel.

The last 3E9215 back to Athens on that first published evening left Taba at 4:40 p.m. The people who had just come off 3E9214 were already in the border line, bags in hand, doing the part of the journey no airline can sell.