British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are the latest airlines to have announced temporary suspensions of flights to Israel as the Hamas conflict rages on.
While other airlines including easyJet, Wizz Air and Ryanair have already suspended flights, BA and Virgin Atlantic had originally said they were monitoring the situation but had not suspended routes. However, on Wednesday a British Airways flight to Tel Aviv was diverted over ‘security concerns’, leading to the airline suspending all flights to and from Israel.
In a statement, British Airways said: “Safety is always our highest priority and following the latest assessment of the situation we’re suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv. We’re contacting customers booked to travel to or from Tel Aviv to apologise for the inconvenience and offer options including a full refund and rebooking with another airline or with British Airways at a later date. We continue to monitor the situation in the region closely.”
Meanwhile Virgin Atlantic also announced a temporary suspension of flights to Israel on Wednesday which is in place for 72 hours. The company issued an update on its website for passengers explaining: “Due to the ongoing situation in Israel, some of our flights to and from Tel Aviv may face delays or cancellations. Based on the latest information, we have taken the decision to pause flying to and from Tel Aviv for the next 72 hours.
- VS453 departing at 22:10 local from London Heathrow-Tel Aviv 10th October – 27th October
- VS454 departing at 05:55 local from Tel Aviv-London Heathrow 11th October – 28th October
- VS457 departing at 08:50 local from London Heathrow-Tel Aviv 12th October – 15th October
- VS458 departing 16:25 local from Tel Aviv-London Heathrow 12th October – 15th October
“If you were booked to travel on a cancelled service between the 17th and 28th October, your flight will still show as operating until the changes have been made in our system this Saturday.”
Source: Mirror
