In Israel, airlines are canceling flights too

Although significant, the number of cancellations is less than in Beirut.

According to Israeli media and international news agencies, several airlines have temporarily suspended flights to Israeli international airports, particularly Tel Aviv, due to concerns about the evolving security situation, marked by an intensification of clashes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. A similar scenario has unfolded at Beirut airport and, while it mainly depends on the security situation, it may also be motivated by commercial factors (the high season has just ended) or insurance issues.

This is particularly the case of the Hungarian low-cost Wizz Air, British Airways and Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), which announced on Tuesday the suspension of their services to the Israeli capital for the day. Wizz Air has also suspended its flights to Amman, according to a statement relayed in the Israeli media.

Other airlines also decided to suspend flights to Ben Gurion International Airport, although cancellations are currently lower than in Beirut.

The German Lufthansa Group companies (Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings) decided on Monday to interrupt their flights to Tel Aviv until October 14 inclusive – a deadline similar to their services to Beirut International Airport. The German group also suspended its connections to Tehran during the same period.

According to lists compiled by the Israel Hayom and Haaretz dailies , U.S. airlines United Airlines, Delta Airlines and American Airlines have canceled flights to Israel, the former until further notice, the latter until Dec. 31, 2024 and the latter until March 2025.

KLM announced that it would not serve Israel until Oct. 26 at the earliest, while Air France's service to Tel Aviv was interrupted only briefly before resuming over the weekend. In a statement sent to L'Orient-Le Jour, Air France assured that it would maintain its flights to Israel, while it suspended them to Lebanon until Oct. 1.

Croatia Airlines has also suspended its flights without specifying a resumption date. The Spanish airline appears to have cancelled its flights to Tel Aviv until the end of the year, according to availability on its website, but has not made any announcements. Finally, Air Canada has said it will not resume flights before the end of 2024. A week ago, Irish low-cost Ryanair canceled its flights to Israel until Oct. 26, while Air India has suspended its flights to and from Israel until further notice in recent days, according to several Asian media outlets. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has suspended its service to Ben Gurion International Airport until March 27, 2025.

Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting along the border between Israel and Lebanon since Oct. 8, 2023, the day after the outbreak of the Gaza war. But these clashes have taken on a new dimension in recent days, with intense bombardments by the Israeli army on several Lebanese regions, outside the areas where exchanges of fire between the two sides had taken place until then.

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.