A British Airways Airbus A320 takes off from Heathrow Airport in London, United Kingdom on May 17, 2021. Portal/John Sibley/File Photo Acquire License Rights
LONDON/WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Portal) – British Airways said on Wednesday it would suspend all flights to Tel Aviv after diverting a flight from London back to Britain due to security concerns in Israel.
Separately, Virgin Atlantic announced it would suspend all flights to and from Tel Aviv for the next 72 hours, citing the safety of passengers and crew.
A spokesman for the Israel Airports Authority said rockets were flying around Tel Aviv at the time of the British Airways diversion, but there was no immediate threat to the flight or Ben Gurion Airport.
She said the return to the UK was the pilot’s decision and no other flights were diverted.
Governments and airlines have tried to add flights from Israel to evacuate their country’s citizens, while Israeli airlines have tried to fly reservists back to Israel.
Aviation authorities have warned airlines flying to Israel but have not suspended flights, although some experts have warned that the current airspace situation is risky due to ongoing missile attacks.
“Safety is always our top priority and we have made the decision to return our Tel Aviv flight to Heathrow (airport),” a British Airways spokesman said.
According to flight tracking website FlightRadar, British Airways had operated a single daily flight to Tel Aviv before the suspension.
Since the surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday, many international airlines have suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv.
Flydubai announced on Wednesday that it would reduce flights to Tel Aviv from four to two per day.
Following the suspension of British Airways, no IAG-owned airlines (ICAG.L) now offer flights to Tel Aviv, a spokesman for the group said.
Flight radar showed British Airways flight BA165 had almost reached Tel Aviv before returning to London.
The US government has held discussions with airlines to encourage them to resume flights, the State Department said on Tuesday.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday the administration “encourages airlines both in the U.S. and international partners to find safe ways to support travel between the United States and Israel.”
Reporting by Sarah Young and Joanna Plucinska and David Shepardson in Washington, written by Sachin Ravikumar; Edited by Bernadette Baum, Jonathan Oatis, Rod Nickel, Elaine Hardcastle
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