From the Liveblog of
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Israel’s airspace is safe, says airport chief; we proved in April that we’ll close it when we need to
As more foreign airlines cancel their Israel services, leaving many passengers unable to depart as planned and others unable to return, Shmuel Zakai, the head of the Civil Aviation Authority, says almost 70,000 passengers flew in and out of Israel so far today, on almost 60 airlines.
“The cancellations are significant,” he notes, however, highlighting United Airlines and Delta halting their flights to and from the United States, and the Lufthansa-led group of European airlines suspending services.
The main reason for the cancellations, he says, “is that the flight crews are deterred from coming to Israel.”
“Flights to Israel are safe,” he says, citing not only the Israeli authorities but also global regulators, including the Federal Aviation Administration
and its European counterpart. In contrast to the situation in Lebanon, these authorities have not issued instructions to airlines not to fly to Israel, he says.
Israel’s air space “is absolutely safe,” Zakai says.
He says Israel proved on April 13-14, when Iran mounted an unprecedented and almost entirely thwarted missile and drone attack — “that when we think that the airspace is not safe for flights, we close it. That earned us a lot of credit internationally.”
This is not the first time that foreign airlines have suspended flights, he notes. Airlines have made their own decisions, he says.
When buying tickets, passengers should take into account that they might encounter delays and cancellations, and plan accordingly, Zakai adds.
Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia say they are operating their flights as usual, and preparing to add more flights if needed to help stranded Israelis get home.
