Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia said on Friday they were moving their planes out of the country, hours after Israel launched widespread strikes against Iran and braced for retaliation.

The planes were flown without passengers, said a spokesperson for Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, which on Friday closed until further notice.

Israir said it was evacuating and relocating its aircraft from the airport, adding this was part of a contingency plan developed over the past few days.

El Al said it was moving aircraft out of Israel “to our destinations” and Arkia declined to say where they were moving.

Flight tracking data showed a number of planes leaving Tel Aviv on Friday morning local time.

A number of Israir flights went to Cyprus and several El Al aircraft were flown to airports in Europe, Flightradar24 data showed.