Leading international airlines have suspended or reduced flights to Israel’s capital, Tel Aviv, amid the conflict with Hamas and escalating attacks on Gaza.
About half of all scheduled flights at the airport were not operating on Sunday, and a third were cancelled by Monday evening.
American Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, Delta Air Lines, Egypt Air, Emirates, Finland’s Finnair, the Netherlands’ KLM, Germany’s Lufthansa, Norwegian Air, Portugal’s TAP, Poland’s LOT, Ryanair and United Airlines were among those suspending or reducing flights to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
Russia banned night flights to Israel, and regulators including the US Federal Aviation Authority, the European Union’s aviation safety agency and Israel’s aviation authority urged airlines to be cautious in Israeli airspace, but stopped short of suspending flights.
Russia said it had restricted flights to Israel before 09:00 GMT due to what it called an “unstable political and military situation” and advised airlines to continue to monitor risks during daylight hours.
Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority said airlines should “review current security and threat information” and had changed some flight routes. It said delays were expected and advised airlines flying to Israel to carry extra fuel as a precaution.
British Airways said it planned to continue operating flights to Israel “with adjusted departure times over the coming days”.
Virgin Atlantic said it would continue to operate some flights, but that customers could rebook or request refunds on their tickets.
Britain’s easyJet suspended flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday, while Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice. Other airlines suspending flights included Aegean, Swiss and Austrian Airlines.
Airlines from China, Hong Kong and South Korea also cancelled flights to Tel Aviv.
Hong Kong’s main carrier, Cathay Pacific Airways, said it was cancelling its Tel Aviv flights scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday “in light of the latest situation in Israel”.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is our first priority. We will continue to monitor the situation very closely,” the airline said on its website, adding that it would provide updates on the site.
Israel’s national airline, El Al, said it was maintaining its Tel Aviv flights for the time being “in accordance with the instructions of the Israeli security forces”, with all flights now only departing from Terminal Three at Ben Gurion Airport.
