Air India scraps TLV route until Oct. 27 as airlines extend pauses due to war fears
Air Baltic cancels flights through Aug. 18, Swiss breaks with rest of Lufthansa to cancel through Aug. 16; Transportation Ministry chief says Israelis need to ‘see glass half full’
Air India has extended the suspension of its Tel Aviv route until October 27, after the high holidays, joining a flood of airlines canceling upcoming flights, due to fears of an all-out war in the region.
Air Baltic canceled flights through August 18 and Swiss Airlines canceled flights through August 16. The Swiss Airlines announcement was made independently of the rest of the Lufthansa Group, whose flights are currently suspended through Tuesday, and will decide on future flights later this week.
The Passport News tourism media outlet said Italy’s ITA was canceling flights through August 15 and one flight to Rome on August 16.
The Ben Gurion Airport’s website also showed Croatia Air had no flights until September 3. The Latvia-based airline had previously suspended its Tel Aviv route through August 20.
The website also showed that Spain’s Iberia Express would not resume flights until August 15, after originally canceling flights until August 12, and Spanish low-cost carrier Air Europa extended the suspension of its Tel Aviv route through August 12.
While major airlines can reschedule passengers, low-cost airlines are committed to reimbursing their customers and stand to lose more from canceling flights.
Moshe Ben Zaken, director general of the Transportation Ministry, told Channel 12 that Israelis “need to see the glass half full,” noting that 29 airlines were still operating.
Nonetheless, he said, “citizens who want to leave in the summer months, in July and August, and toward the holidays, need to take into account that there will be cancellations.”
“Just as they are mature enough to buy tickets, they should be mature enough to know whether and when to leave,” said Ben Zaken.
He added that airlines that had canceled flights were doing so “for their own reasons.”
“There’s nothing stopping them [from flying], including on a security level.”
Ben Zaken praised Transportation Minister Miri Regev’s efforts in bringing stranded Israelis home and said Israeli airlines were “fully cooperating” by operating as usual.
Multiple airlines have opted to steer clear of Israeli, Iranian, and Lebanese airspace, as Tehran and its proxy, Hezbollah, have threatened to attack Israel over the twin assassinations of Hezbollah deputy chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 30 and 31, respectively.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its role in Haniyeh’s killing.
It is unclear how many Israelis have been stranded abroad due to the flight cancelations, with media estimates ranging from 40,000 to 150,000.
The Foreign Ministry has published an online form to assist the tens of thousands of Israelis stuck abroad with no way home due to airline cancellations.
Below is an alphabetical list of airlines’ cancellations as of August 11 (cancellations may be extended further, based on developments):
Aegean (Greece) — flights canceled through August 14
Air Baltic (Latvia) — flights canceled through August 18
Air Canada (Canada) — flights canceled through October 15
Air Europa (Spain) — flights canceled through August 12
Air India (India) — flights canceled through October 24
Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong) — flights canceled through March 27, 2025
Croatia Airlines (Croatia) — flights set to resume September 3
Delta (United States) — flights canceled through August 31
easyJet (United Kingdom) — flights canceled through March 29, 2025
Iberia Express (Spain) — flights set to resume August 15
ITA (Italy) — flights canceled through August 15, as well as one outbound flight on August 16
KLM (the Netherlands) — flights canceled through October 26
LOT (Poland) — flights canceled through August 12
Lufthansa Group (Germany) — flights canceled through August 13 (the group’s carriers include Swiss Air [see above], Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa Airlines and Eurowings).
Ryanair (Ireland) — flights canceled through August 23
Swiss Air (Switzerland) — flights canceled through August 16
United Airlines (United States) — flights canceled until further notice
Vueling (Spain) — flights canceled until further notice
