Minister calls on airlines to rethink decision

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz calls on two major American airlines to rethink their decision to suspend service to and from Israel. These are “proper and normal” routes, Katz says.

“Ben Gurion Airport is safe — takeoffs and landings — and there is absolutely no need to be concerned about the security of planes and passengers,” he says. “There’s absolutely no reason why American airlines in particular should stop their flights and thus hand a prize to terrorism.”

Earlier Tuesday, US Airways and Delta Airlines had decided to cancel their flights to and from Israel in the wake of security concerns regarding rocket fire from Gaza. Fragments of an intercepted rocket had fallen in a backyard in the town of Yehud just north of the airport earlier today.

The airlines made their decision “of their own accord,” a spokesman for the Israel Airports Authority tells The Times of Israel, adding that it was not prodded by a decision by American aviation authorities. Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority is currently trying to explain to these companies that Ben Gurion remains a safe destination, the spokesperson says.

Delta and US Airways aren’t the first airlines to cancel their flights to and from Israel in the wake of Operation Protective Edge. Last week, Korean Airlines and a Norwegian shuttle took that step out of security concerns.

— Raphael Ahren