Israeli aviation authorities are advising airlines still flying in its airspace to carry additional fuel on board due to expected delays.
Major international airlines have suspended or reduced flights to Israel’s capital Tel Aviv due to the escalating conflict with Hamas and attacks on Gaza.
About half of all scheduled flights at the airport do not operate on Sunday, and as of Monday night, one-third were canceled.
American Airlines, Air Canada, Air France, Delta Air Lines, EgyptAir, Emirates, Finland’s Finnair, Dutch airline KLM, Germany’s Lufthansa, Norwegian Airlines, Portugal’s TAP, Polish airline LOT , Ryanair and United Airlines have canceled or reduced flights. Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
Russia has banned night flights to Israel, and regulators including the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and Israel’s aviation authority have urged airlines to be on alert in Israeli airspace, but have not grounded them. There wasn’t.
Russia said it was restricting flights to Israel before 9 a.m. Japan time due to the “unstable political and military situation” and advised airlines to continue monitoring risks during the day.
Israel’s civil aviation authority said airlines had to “review current security and threat information” and had changed some air traffic routes. Officials noted that delays should be expected and advised Israeli-bound airlines to carry extra fuel as a precaution.
British Airways said it plans to continue operating flights to Israel “over the coming days with adjusted departure times”.
Virgin Atlantic said some flights would continue to operate, but customers could request to rebook their tickets or request a refund.
Britain’s easyJet suspended flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday, and Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air also canceled flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice. Other airlines that have suspended operations include Aegean Airlines, Swissair and Austrian Airlines.
Airlines from China, Hong Kong and South Korea also canceled flights to Tel Aviv.
Hong Kong’s main carrier, Cathay Pacific, said it was canceling flights to Tel Aviv scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday “in view of the latest situation in Israel”.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority. We will continue to closely monitor the situation,” the airline said on its website, adding that it would provide updated information on the site.
Israel’s national airline El Al announced that it would maintain its Tel Aviv flights for the time being “in accordance with instructions from Israeli security forces” and that all flights would depart only from Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion Airport.
