Amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran, with both nations exchanging missile fire in recent days, airlines are further cancelling or are rerouting flights across the Middle East.
Israel’s major airport, Ben Gurion International Airport, remains closed for all civilian flights until further notice, with Israeli airline El Al suspending all services through Thursday (19 June).
Airspace has also been closed for civilian aircraft in Iran, as well as neighbouring Iraq and Jordan due to the ongoing crisis.
El Al said it has further cancelled flights through next Monday (23 June) to the following destinations: Berlin, Tbilisi, Barcelona, Batumi, Warsaw, Rhodes, Munich, Tivat, Lisbon, Tokyo, Krakow, Venice, Thessaloniki, Marseille, Crete (Heraklion), Kefalonia, Santorini, Chisinau, Belgrade, Tirana, Porto, Mykonos Lefkada and Moscow.
Lufthansa has cancelled all services to Tel Aviv and Tehran up to and including 31 July, with flights to Amman, Erbil and Beirut currently suspended through 20 June.
Meanwhile, Air France has suspended its Tel Aviv flights “until further notice” and the carrier is “closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East in real time”.
Other major European carriers, including British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair are not currently flying to Israel.
Middle Eastern airlines, including Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, have suspended services to some countries in the region as well as rerouting some flights.
Dubai-based Emirates has suspended flights to Amman, Beirut, Tehran and the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Basra until 30 June, while services to Jordan and Lebanon have been cancelled until June 22. Flights to Tel Aviv are also suspended.
Etihad Airways has cancelled all flights from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv until 22 June, and Qatar Airways has “temporarily cancelled flights to Iran, Iraq and Syria due to the current situation in the region”.
The crisis has also led to United Airlines pausing flights to Tel Aviv up to and including 31 July, while Delta’s flights from New York’s JFK airport to Tel Aviv are suspended until 31 August.
The disruption to air travel came as the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has issued a warning against all travel to Israel due to the conflict.
“We recognise this is a fast-moving situation that poses significant risks,” said the FCDO in its travel advisory. “The situation has the potential to deteriorate further, quickly and without warning. The current situation has disrupted air links out of the country and may disrupt road links.”
Other European countries including France and Germany have also issued similar warnings about travel to Israel and Iran.
Source: BTN Europe
