British Airways (BA) airline has decided to restart Tel Aviv flights starting April this year.
Like several other airlines, British Airways suspended flights to Israel due to the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October last year, VisaGuide.World reports.
The British airline is planning to operate four weekly flights between London Heathrow and Ben Guiron airports, as explained by Business Travel News.
However, the outbound service from Heathrow will involve a 45-minute stay in Larnaca, Cyprus, to facilitate a crew change, as the staff of British Airways will not be permitted to stay in Tel Aviv due to security reasons.
We’ve taken the commercial decision to move Tel Aviv to our short-haul network when we restart our flights on April 1. This aligns these flights with other similar length flights we operate, and we’ll keep this decision under review.
In addition to BA, the Italian airline ITA will resume its flights between Tel Aviv and Rome starting on March 1, 2024. ITA further announced it will operate flights three times a week, possibly adding summer flights based on geopolitical changes.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa Group (including SWISS and Austrian airlines), Tarom, and Aegean already restarted their flights earlier in January.
Last month, eight other European airlines also announced their decision to partially resume flights to Tel Aviv. These airlines included Air France, Bluebird Airways, Bulgaria Air, TUS, Transavia, LOT, Vueling, and Air Europa.
However, the companies noted that their decision may change upon security developments.
Several Airlines Continue to Keep Flights To & From Tel Aviv Suspended
On the other hand, several airlines have extended their suspension of flights to Israel, including the UK airline Virgin Atlantic.
After careful consideration, we have taken the decision to extend our pause on flying to and from Tel Aviv up to and including 4 September 2024.
Last month, AirBaltic also suspended all flights to and from Tel Aviv until March this year. The Latvian airline noted that this decision came due to uncertainties related to the current situation in Israel.
In addition to several EU airlines, American Airlines has decided to suspend flights to Israel until October 26, 2024, as reported by Skift. The company further noted that ensuring the safety of its passengers and staff remains their top priority.
We will continue working closely with our partner airlines to assist customers travelling between Israel and European cities with service to the US.
Following the Hamas attack on Israel last October, several airlines have reduced or suspended their flights to Tel Aviv. As a result, during this month, Ben-Gurion Airport saw a 41.25 per cent decrease in passenger arrivals compared to the same month in 2022.