JERUSALEM, March 23 (Reuters) - El Al Israel Airlines

said on Monday it was reviewing its operations after

the Transportation Ministry ordered a reduction of traffic at

Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.

Israel's flag carrier, which has been operating repatriation

flights since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel air war with Iran

on February 28, called on authorities to open Ramon Airport near

the Red Sea city of Eilat as an alternative to Ben Gurion.

Late on Sunday after a security assessment, Transportation

Minister Miri Regev opted to scale back the number of takeoffs

and landings from Ben Gurion "in order to prevent potential risk

to human life".

While Israel's air defences have intercepted more than 90%

of Iranian missiles fired at Israel, there were two failures on

Saturday night that led to scores of civilian injuries in two

Israeli southern towns.

Regev said the decision to limit flights to just one

incoming flight with no passenger limit and one outgoing flight

with up to 50 passengers per hour came after more than 140,000

people have already flown back to Israel.

El Al said it was examining the implications of the new

framework. "The company is working to formulate a reduced

operating format that will allow the continuation of essential

activity to maintain an air bridge to and from Israel," it said.

"At the same time, El Al is calling for the opening of Ramon

Airport as a complementary alternative to Ben Gurion Airport, in

order to preserve aviation activity and provide a solution for

passengers".

A more than four-hour drive from Tel Aviv, Ramon is close to

Eilat, which borders Aqaba, Jordan and Taba, Egypt where other

Israeli carriers have been operating some flights.

Israeli's Arkia Airlines said it was shifting the majority of

its operations to Aqaba and Taba. Its flights to New York,

Bangkok and Hanoi will operate at full capacity from Aqaba but

will still fly to and from Ben Gurion to Larnaca and Athens.

"Under the current framework, it is not possible to maintain

regular aviation operations, and in practice it amounts to the

closure of Israel's skies," said Arkia CEO Oz Berlowitz.

"The company cannot be required to choose between passengers

who have already purchased tickets, and therefore we are

preparing to shift most of our operations to Aqaba and Taba

airports, in order to maintain aviation continuity as much as

possible."

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise

and Arun Koyyur)