Lufthansa, subsidiaries to resume flights to Israel on January 8
German airline says it will initially offer 20 connections a week to and from Tel Aviv, around 30% of its flights before Hamas attack on Oct. 7
FRANKFURT, Germany — German airline group Lufthansa said Friday it planned to resume flights to Tel Aviv from January 8, after the service was suspended following the Hamas terror group’s October 7 onslaught in southern Israel.
The group’s airlines will initially “offer a total of 20 weekly connections to and from Tel Aviv,” Lufthansa said in a statement. “This corresponds to around 30 percent of the regular flight schedule.”
Lufthansa Airlines will offer connections from Frankfurt and Munich, while Austrian Airlines and SWISS will also restart the service.
SWISS said it was resuming five weekly flights between Zurich and Tel Aviv, with five weekly flights from January 8.
The Lufthansa group halted flights to Israel on October 9, citing security concerns after Hamas terrorists carried out an unprecedented attack against Israel in which some 1,200 people were slaughtered and around 240 taken hostage.
Other airlines including British Airways, Air France-KLM and US airline Delta also cut flights to Tel Aviv in the wake of the massacres, to which Israel responded by launching a war in Gaza against Hamas that continues to rage.
In addition, Lufthansa suspended flights to and from the Lebanese capital Beirut on October 13 as tensions in the region soared, with Hezbollah and allied Palestinian groups in Lebanon launching repeated cross-border attacks against Israel that have been met with counterstrikes.
Flights to Beirut were resumed on Friday by Lufthansa and its subsidiaries SWISS and Eurowings, the group added.
“The Lufthansa group continues to monitor the security situation in Israel closely and is in close contact with the local and international authorities,” the statement said
“Possible flight schedule adjustments must be expected due to changing conditions.”
