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Israeli stows away on flight to Vienna in latest security breach

The 18-year-old passed through security at Israel’s main airport without completing border control procedures.

An EL AL flight lands at Ben-Gurion International Airport, March 31, 2025. Photo by Yossi Aloni/Flash90.
An EL AL flight lands at Ben-Gurion International Airport, March 31, 2025. Photo by Yossi Aloni/Flash90.

An Israeli teenager managed to board a flight from Ben-Gurion International Airport on Tuesday without a passport or ticket, in the second such security breach in as many months.

The 18-year-old passed through security at Israel’s main airport without completing border control procedures and boarded an Austrian Airlines flight to Vienna, flying undetected to the city.

He was returned to Israel on a flight after authorities in Vienna discovered he lacked valid documentation.

“The airline and the Population Authority will conduct an inspection and investigate the case, in order to strengthen the layers of control and oversight of the [security] process,” the Israel Airports Authority said in a statement.

The incident comes two months after a 13-year-old boy boarded an El Al flight to New York without a ticket or passport, but was caught by the flight crew and removed from the aircraft.

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