Several airlines around the globe, including British Airways and Ryanair, have suspended flights to Tel Aviv after a missile strike near Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.
Flights have been halted to and from Tel Aviv after a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis landed near Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday 4 May, sending a cloud of smoke into the air and panicking passengers.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the missile, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised statement, and repeated a warning to airlines that Israel’s main international airport was “no longer safe for air travel”.
Flights were delayed or cancelled, and reports stated that access routes to the airport were blocked, but Ben Gurion Airport has now advised its passengers that the airport is operating as normal, including departures and landings.
Despite this, many airlines have made the decision to suspend their flights to and from the airport.
British Airways said in a statement it would be halting flights to Tel Aviv for over a month, one of the longest periods of cancellations out of all airlines suspending operations.
“The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our priority,” a spokesperson said.
“We continually monitor operating conditions and have made the decision to suspend our flights to and from Tel Aviv, up to and including 14 June. We’ve apologised to our customers for the inconvenience.”
Other airlines have gone with different time periods, such as Air India suspending Tel Aviv flight operations until Thursday 8 May and Spain’s Air Europa until 9 May.
Germany’s Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Polish airline LOT have also suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv up to and including 11 May. Its passengers will be notified and rebooked on alternative flights.
Swiss International Air Lines, Latvia’s airBaltic and ITA Airways and Europe’s biggest budget carrier Ryanair have also made statements that they are cancelling flights until 11 May.
ITA, the Italian carrier, has also said its cancellation includes two flights on 12 May.
Wizz Air has stopped flights to Tel Aviv until 12 May, while Aegean Airlines, the Greek airline, said it would be cancelling flights to Tel Aviv until 13 May as well as an early morning flight the day after.
Dutch air group KLM said it is stopping Tel Aviv flights until 30 May, and Iberia Express has cancelled flights until 31 May.
While Delta has not confirmed a full cancellation, it has warned its passengers that flights to and from or through Tel Aviv could be impacted until 25 May.
United has also taken a similar response, saying travel to and from Tel Aviv may be impacted until 11 May.
Before the strike even occurred, Virgin Atlantic said on 29 April it would be cancelling services between London Heathrow and Tel Aviv.
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