Air travel comes to a halt as these carriers suspend flight operations to Israel

HAIFA - Amid fresh clashes between Hamas and Israel, multiple international carriers have suspended flight services with Tel Aviv until conditions improve.

Among the carriers, United Airlines (UAL.O), Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) and American Airlines (AAL.O) said they had suspended direct flights to the city.

In a statement, United announced it had operated two scheduled flights to the United States from Israel late on Saturday and early on Sunday but had suspended services "until conditions allow them to resume".

Air France (AIRF.PA) and Finland's Finnair (FIA1S.HE) also stated the same in the wake of the confrontation that has left 7oo dead; the fresh clash erupted on Saturday which is seen as the deadliest incursion since the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago.

As far as air travel is concerned, U.S. airlines generally run direct services from major cities such as New York, Chicago, Washington, DC and Miami though the confrontation has put a halt to such service.

As per an official announcement, Delta representatives said flights "have been canceled into this week" while the situation is being examined for rescheduling.

Moreover, Britain's easyjet (EZJ.L) stated that it had halted flights with Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday, and would adjust the timings of flights soon.

Besides, Hainan Airlines (600221.SS) which is the only Chinese airline to fly between China and Israel, also cancelled flights between Tel Aviv and Shanghai on Monday, using the pretext of clashes though said that it would continue flights linking Beijing and Shenzhen with Tel Aviv.

Cathay Pacific (0293.HK) had also cancelled its flight between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

Moreover, Korean Air (003490.KS) said it cancelled its Monday flight between the port city of Incheon and Tel Aviv, warning further flights to be irregular.

The flight disruption is also affecting carriers in Asia as Air India confirmed that the flight from Delhi to Tel Aviv on 7 October and the return flight AI140 from Tel Aviv to Delhi were cancelled.

Moreover, Portugal’s TAP cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv slated for Sunday and Monday while Spain’s Iberia Express also cancelled both its flights between Madrid and Tel Aviv on Saturday.

Besides, Virgin Atlantic also said some of its flights to and from the Israeli capital may face delays or cancellations while an Etihad Airways flight between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv on Monday was also cancelled.

Earlier, German airline Lufthansa announced to cut flights to Israel following the fresh conflict which has drawn international attention.

“Given the current security situation in Tel Aviv,” Lufthansa will maintain a single flight to Frankfurt but “all other Lufthansa flights to and from Tel Aviv have been canceled for this Saturday,” the carrier said.

Media reports say that Austrian Airlines, Swiss Air and Turkish Airlines are also among the carriers to cancel flights to and from Israel. Additionally, Wizz Air has so far diverted four flights that were en route to Israel when the confrontation started.

Airbus jets from Catania, Cluj, Debrecen and Warsaw all diverted to Larnaca, the airport on the island of Cyprus; a United Airlines flight to Tel Aviv was also diverted back to San Francisco as the tension escalated.

The severity of the conflict can be assessed from the fact that a  Wizz Air flight from Rome to Tel Aviv turned around and flew back to its starting point; the same happened with an Anadulojet service from Istanbul.