International Airlines Suspend Flights With Tel Aviv Route For Safety Until Situation Improves

Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel. (Wikimedia Commons/Oyoyoy)

JAKARTA - A number of international airlines suspended flight services on the Tel Aviv route after retaliating attacks between the Hamas group and the Israeli military, saying they were waiting for safety conditions to improve before continuing flights.

Palestinian Hamas militants launched an attack on Saturday, sparking retaliation from Israel, potentially causing prolonged armed clashes between the two sides.

On Sunday, United Airlines airlines Delta Air Lines and American Airlines said they had suspended Israeli direct flights. Likewise with Air France's move, reported by Reuters on October 9.

Usually, Uncle Sam's country airlines serve direct flights from major cities such as New York, Chicago, Washington DC and Miami to Israel.

In a statement, United said it had carried out two scheduled flights to America from Israel on Saturday night and Sunday morning, but had stopped services "until conditions allowed it to resume flights".

Meanwhile, Delta representatives said flights had been canceled until this week, while they were monitoring the situation to make the required schedule changes.

Meanwhile, Hainan Airlines, the only Chinese airline serving flights with Israel, canceled flights between Tel Aviv and Shanghai on Monday, citing a security situation in Israel.

The airline also operates flights between Beijing and Tel Aviv as well as technology centers Shenzhen and Tel Aviv. The airline says it will adjust future flight plans depending on the situation.

Cathay Pacific said it canceled flights between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv on Tuesday, providing further information on its next flight on Thursday.

As for Korea, Korean Air said it canceled flights between port cities of Incheon and Tel Aviv on Monday, forecasting future flight schedules to be affected.