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Operations during wartime
We appreciate our customers' ongoing support.
Update, 5 Nissan (23 Mar.) - Last night Israel's Transport Ministry decided to reduce the number of flights down to just one per hour, yet our commercial client liaison at Israel Post notified us that they plan to get all of the USA-bound First Class and EMS/Priority parcels that have accumulated at the airport out of the country by the end of this week. If that pans out, we'll be very impressed and encouraged. He added that First Class parcels to Europe are also moving out at a reasonable pace, under the circumstances. And UPS is continuing to perform quite well under pressure. Most parcels are getting delivered within 4 business days (longer to Australia — around 5-7 business days).
Update, 27 Adar (16 Mar.) - Based on previous periods of closed skies (the war last summer, COVID, etc.) it was clear to us that Israel Post (shipping options listed as First Class and EMS/Priority on our site) would be much slower than usual, but so far they're not even living up to our low expectations. We have yet to see any Israel Post shipments leave the country since the war began. On the other hand, UPS is performing quite well, and for now is the only practical option for most customers.
Update, 19 Adar (8 Mar.) - We thought international mail would be off the table for another week or more, but this morning Israel Post sent out a notice to commercial exporters saying they are getting some parcels out of the country on an FIFO (First In First Out) basis, and that EMS/Priority will get priority. Our assessment is that that will probably be a very slow trickle for now. The bottom line is that none of our shipping methods are completely inoperable, and some UPS shipments dispatched last week have already been delivered.
Update, 15 Adar/Shushan Purim (4 Mar.) - When is the Israeli airspace likely to reopen? Obviously there's no way to know. Our guess is that it will be late next week, at the earliest. And whenever it does happen, the process is gradual. Based on both June 2025 precedent and current doctrine the skies will open when we see zero long-range missile launches for 24-48 hours, then it'll be another 1-3 days until the airspace fully opens, with Israeli airlines (El Al and Arkia) typically lead the reopening, followed by courier planes and then commercial airlines. Surprisingly, UPS sent out a notice today saying they have a solution to fly parcels out. We don't have any details on how that works, but we'll definitely give it a try tomorrow.
Update, 13 Adar (2 Mar.) - Israel Post, which handles the first leg of all First Class and EMS shipping (including USPS Priority) sent a notice saying, "Our courier network is operating in accordance with Home Front Command guidelines, and localized delays may occur. Package pickups and package deliveries through the various channels will continue as usual, insofar as possible." However, yesterday the driver did not arrive, and when we asked the local logistics center, they replied that currently "drivers are not coming in to work." Tomorrow there definitely will be no pickup because of Purim. Our next regularly scheduled dispatch is Thursday, and we're hoping that by then Israel Post drivers in our area will have resumed pickups.
Update, 12 Adar (1 Mar.) - Well, here we go again...At this point obviously it's premature to predict how long planes will be grounded. We're hoping this latest round of fighting will end very swiftly, and sometime next week we'll see orders starting to leave the country. For now, our customer service and order processing is nearly full throttle, and today we do have parcel pickup scheduled. Invariably these parcels will get picked up, scanned and then pile up at logistics centers until the airspace reopens.
Update, 17 Tammuz (13 Jul.) - A quick note of thanks: During the 12 days of daily missile attacks from Iran, with the entire airspace completely shut down, we had two or three dozen express parcels that had been dispatched, but just sat at the airport untouched for a week or two. Yet not one single customer contacted us to complain or cancel!
Update, 13 Tammuz (9 Jul.) - We reviewed shipping times for all of June. Although a number of the parcels that got stuck in mid-Jun. have yet to be sent abroad, it looks like more recent dispatches are moving a bit faster. UPS and DHL are back to normal.
Update, 29 Sivan (25 Jun.) - Now that we have a ceasefire in place (on one of the 3-4 fronts we have to contend with), the airspace is fully open and shipping services are back to normal – almost. We estimate that it will take just a few business days for UPS and DHL to get the piles of parcels out of the country, but based on past experience it will probably take Israel Post a lot longer. That means we advise our customers to take into consideration that First Class shipping could take a week or two longer than usual.
Update, 28 Sivan (24 Jun.) - All three of our shipping services – DHL, UPS and Israel Post – provided pickup service today. How long it takes to get all the accumulated, grounded parcels into cargo holds and up into the air is another story. As we write these lines, even today's ceasefire is in question. On the other hand, some encouraging signs: (1) there have been a handful of departures and (2) our DHL liaison says they are starting to get parcels out of the country (though we have yet to see this in the tracking data).
Update, 24 Sivan (20 Jun.) - DHL has notified us that they have started dispatching parcels that have accumulated in their logistics center at the airport, and on Sunday will resume pickup service. (Indeed, this post indicates that there has been some freight shipping this week, by El Al and Challenge Airlines IL, via New York, Liège, Athens, Frankfurt and Zurich.) We're waiting for a service update from UPS. Israel Post will likely keep all parcels grounded next week, and possibly longer.
Update, 22 Sivan (18 Jun.) - Both DHL and UPS have sent us official notices that they are not providing pickup services as long as the skies are closed, but in practice UPS did a pickup on Sunday and DHL did a pickup on Tuesday – both unexpectedly. Israel Post has apparently resumed pickups. However, none of these parcels will go very far, since the only planes taking off are combat planes, and they're all headed east. We're hoping these pickups do give our customers a slight advantage since they should be "at the head of the line" when flights resume. Surprisingly, about half of our suppliers are in operation, so we're well stocked, and it looks like businesses will be resuming normal operations on Thurs.
Update, 19 Sivan (15 Jun.) - Israel Post canceled today's pickup and at this point it looks likely they will cancel the Tues. pickup as well. DHL notified us that they are not doing pickups as long as the airspace remains shut down. Surprisingly, UPS is doing pickups, although obviously those parcels won't get very far as long as there are no flights at all. Officially the entire airspace has been shut down until Wed., but that might get extended. Though no parcels are leaving the country at present, we are able to continue preparing orders.
Update, 17 Sivan (13 Jun. 2025) - Well, here we go again... We took this page down and didn't post any updates for the past six months. But our customers might now wonder what's going on here in the office. It's now just six hours since the war alert, so obviously we don't have a very clear picture of what's in store next week. We are taking orders and preparing orders, but our assessment is that we might not have pickups by any of the shipping companies we use (Israel Post, UPS and DHL) at the start of next week, and possibly beyond, based on the info posted by the National Emergency Portal.
Update, 24 Kislev (24 Dec.) - First Class shipping to USA addresses is typically slower in December, and this year seems to be no exception. We reviewed shipping times for parcels sent in the first half of the month. The parcels dispatched on 3 Dec. have now all been delivered (avg. shipping time 16.6 days), but all of the later batches do not seem to be faring as well, which we attribute to the high demand on the USPS system in the second half of Dec. We've had no issues with DHL shipping. Note that we are started to phase in UPS as a third option. For customers in Canada, we're anticipating significant slowdown in Canada over the next few weeks, based on this advisory, and the banner on the Canada Post website: "We thank you for your patience as stabilizing operations will take time." We recommend our Canadian customers considering opt for our UPS or DHL options instead of First Class.
Update, 27 Tishrei (29 Oct.) - We're now back in action following the long Sukkot shutdown. It's challenging to analyze shipping times, since many recent shipments ran into Yom Tov and Chol HaMoed, however it seems that many of the orders sent First Class to the US over the past month got delivered within two weeks, however, many other orders seem to be grounded in Israel at the airport, waiting for cargo space to become available. So if you might be placing a time-sensitive orders, you'll definitely want to consider our express shipping option. We also checked First Class to Australia over the past six months. About three-fourths of those parcels got delivered within three weeks, but several took as long as 5-7 weeks. (Hopefully we'll get a chance to check stats for the UK, Europe and Canada as well.)
Update, 26 Elul (29 Sept.) - Following the dramatic assassination in Beirut on Fri., this morning we received a boastful message from our DHL liaison essentially saying the skies are still open for DHL. On the other hand, we're anticipating the very real possibility that significant suspension of flight service by numerous airlines – following the European Union's advisory to avoid Israeli and Lebanese airspace through 31 Oct. – will hamper Israel Post's ability to arrange space in cargo holds of passenger planes for First Class and EMS shipments, which would in turn cause significant delays. Also, since some organizations may opt to switch from Israel Post to express couriers, the added demand could impact DHL shipping time somewhat; our working assumption, at this point, is that DHL shipping time could be 1-2 business days slower than usual.