Airlines suspend flights over clashes between Israel and Hezbollah
British Airways suspends flights until Wednesday, while Air France pauses services until Monday.
Workers look at a departures flight board at Ben Gurion airport on March 27, 2023 [Amir Levy/Getty Images]Published On 26 Aug 202426 Aug 2024
Multiple airlines have suspended flights to Israel after Israeli forces and Lebanese group Hezbollah engaged in their heaviest clashes since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
British Airways said on Sunday that it would cancel all flights to and from Israel until Wednesday, while Air France announced the suspension of services to Tel Aviv and Beirut until Monday.
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Etihad, Ethiopian Airlines and Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz also announced the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv scheduled for Sunday.
Virgin Atlantic said it would extend its earlier suspension of flights between London and Tel Aviv until September 25 following a review of the situation.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s Royal Jordanian suspended flights to Beirut on Sunday, citing the “current situation”, state-run news agency Petra reported.
On Friday, Germany’s Lufthansa extended its suspension of flights to Beirut to the end of September. The airline also said it would not fly to Tel Aviv or Tehran until September 2.
Last week, Atlanta, Georgia-based Delta Air Lines said it would extend its suspension of flights to at least October 31, following a similar announcement by American Airlines.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport suspended operations for about two hours early on Sunday morning as Israeli forces carried out air strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, forcing the diversion of incoming flights.
Israel’s military said it launched the strikes using about 100 jets after learning that Hezbollah was preparing to attack central Israel at 5am, while the Lebanese group said it launched hundreds of drones and rockets across the Israel-Lebanon border.
In a televised address, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah denied that Israel had detected the attack ahead of time and rejected Israeli claims that its military had destroyed the Lebanese group’s rocket launchers.
Nasrallah said the group launched its attack in retaliation for the killing of commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli air strike on Beirut last month.