American Airlines extends suspension of flights to Israel through late March 2025
Airline says flights to Ben Gurion now canceled through March 29, will refund or grant free rebooking to customers with existing tickets
American Airlines is suspending flights to Israel through late March, extending a break in service that started in the early days of the war in Gaza.
A spokesperson for the airline said Wednesday that customers with tickets for flights to Tel Aviv can rebook at no extra charge or cancel their trip and get a refund.
Updating a travel advisory on its website over the weekend, the airline said flights to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv will be suspended through March 29,
“We will continue to work closely with our partner airlines to assist customers traveling between Israel and European cities with service to the US,” the spokesperson said.
Despite the statement, the American Airlines website on Wednesday appeared to still advertise flights to Israel as soon as November. It was not immediately clear whether it was actually possible to purchase the tickets.
Delta Air Lines extended its suspension of Tel Aviv flights through September 30 from August 31. United Airlines has suspended service indefinitely.
Germany’s Lufthansa announced Monday that based on a “current security analysis” it would halt all flights to Tel Aviv, Amman, Beirut, Teheran and Erbil in Iraq through Monday.
Air travel has been repeatedly shaken by the war in Gaza and rising regional tensions. When the fighting began last October as a result of Hamas’s devastating attack on Israel, most foreign airlines halted their flights.
Service gradually resumed in the following months but was disrupted again when Iran launched a direct major drone and missile attack on the country in April. Some carriers resumed service, but jitters again caused many to shutter their routes in recent weeks for fear of yet another Iranian attack.
The latest cancellations come as Israel braces for responses from Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah following Israel’s July assassination of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, following a deadly Hezbollah rocket attack, and the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, for which Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility.
