All flights operated by British Airways to Tel Aviv will be suspended temporarily following the diversion of a flight BA165 from London to Tel Aviv due to security concerns in Israel. Virgin Atlantic has also announced that it will halt all flights to and from Tel Aviv for the next 72 hours as a precautionary measure.
.gif)
While rockets were reportedly flying around Tel Aviv at the time of the British Airways diversion, the pilot made the decision to return to Britain and there was no immediate threat to the flight or to Ben Gurion Airport, according to a spokesperson for Israel's airports authority.
Governments and airlines are working to add flights from Israel to evacuate their citizens while Israeli airlines are flying reservists back to Israel. Although aviation authorities have cautioned airlines flying to Israel, no flights have been grounded yet. However, some experts have warned that the current airspace situation is risky due to ongoing rocket attacks. British Airways has suspended its single daily flight to Tel Aviv, as per FlightRadar.
Following the surprise attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on Saturday, many international airlines have suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv. Flydubai has announced that it will reduce flights to Tel Aviv from four to two per day. No IAG-owned airlines are currently offering flights to Tel Aviv after British Airways' suspension, a spokesperson for the group confirmed. According to Flightradar, British Airways flight BA165 had almost reached Tel Aviv before it turned back to London. The U.S. government is reportedly in talks with airlines to encourage them to resume flights and is exploring options such as charter flights to help U.S. citizens travel to nearby countries where they can catch commercial flights to the U.S. To help Americans who are trying to return home from Israel, United Airlines has announced that it will fly two additional roundtrip flights between Newark, New Jersey, and Athens in the coming days.
