Some low-cost airlines cancel Israel routes amid Iran threat, others resume flights
Ryanair cancels Wednesday flights; easyJet suspends Tel Aviv route till March; Wizz resumes flights but Lufthansa, Delta, extend suspensions; some 150,000 said stranded abroad
Low-cost carrier easyJet announced Tuesday it was extending the suspension of flights to and from Israel until March, as fellow budget carrier Ryanair canceled its Wednesday flights, amid fears of an all-out war with Iran.
easyJet had suspended all flights to and from Israel through October 27 after Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel the night of April 13-14. The company said Tuesday it would further cancel flights through March 29, 2025, and will offer a full refund to customers who bought tickets for flights between October 27 and March 29.
Meanwhile, Wizz Air resumed flights on Tuesday. Flights on the Hungarian budget carrier had been canceled through Monday.
Lufthansa said Monday it was canceling flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut and Tehran through August 12, and Delta extended the suspension of its Tel Aviv route through the end of the month. The companies had originally suspended their Tel Aviv flights through August 9 and 3, respectively.
Lufthansa also said Wednesday that it is suspending services to Tehran, Beirut, Amman, and Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, until August 13, The German group added that its airplanes will avoid using Iranian and Iraqi airspace until that date.
The Transportation Ministry continues to maintain that Israel’s airspace is safe. Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia have said that they will continue to operate their flights as usual and were preparing to add more flights if necessary to help stranded Israelis get home.
Some 150,000 Israelis are believed to be stranded abroad due to airlines’ suspensions of flights to and from Israel, according to Hebrew media. The wave of cancelations began last week with major airlines Lufthansa, United and Delta, and extended over the weekend to popular low-cost airlines.
While major airlines can reschedule passengers, low-cost airlines are committed to reimbursing their customers and stand to lose more from canceling flights, Channel 12 reported.
Flights to and from Beirut were already being canceled as Lebanon braced for an Israeli response to Hezbollah’s July 27 rocket attack that killed 12 children in Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights.
On July 30, an Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, the Iran-backed terror group’s deputy leader. Hours later, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an explosion in Tehran.
Iran has vowed to exact “harsh punishment” on Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its role in the Tehran blast, though it confirmed killing Shukr. Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah, who has also threatened to attack Israel, said Tuesday that the uncertainty of the timing of the terror group’s response was “part of the punishment.”
Amid the tensions, multiple countries have urged their citizens to stay away from, or evacuate, Iran, Lebanon and Israel. On Tuesday, Japan became the latest country to do so.
The Foreign Ministry on Saturday 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 7 (cancellations could be extended further, based on developments):
Aegean (Greece) — flights canceled through August 7
Air Europa (Spain) — flights canceled through August 8
Air India (India) — flights canceled through August 8
Croatia Airlines (Croatia) — flights set to resume August 20
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 8; August 7 arrivals labeled “not final”
ITA (Italy) — flights canceled through August 7
KLM (the Netherlands) — flights canceled through October 26
LOT (Poland) — flights set to resume August 10
Lufthansa Group (Germany) — flights canceled through August 12 (the group’s carriers include Swiss Air, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa Airlines and Eurowings)
Ryanair (Ireland) — flights canceled through August 7
United Airlines (United States) — flights canceled until further notice
Vueling (Spain) — flights set to resume August 15
