"Lufthansa," "Swiss," "Wizz," "Ryanair": European Airlines Cancel Flights to Israel
Several airlines have cancelled their flights to Tel Aviv, Israel, due to an unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas militants against Israel, as reported by Spiegel.
The Lufthansa Group (including SWISS, Brussels Airlines, and Austrian Airlines) has reduced its flights to Israel.
"In light of the current security situation in Tel Aviv, the Lufthansa Group is reducing its flight program to/from Tel Aviv this Saturday for operational reasons," the company announced.
Today, one flight from Tel Aviv to Frankfurt will proceed, while others have been cancelled for now.
"All other Lufthansa flights to and from Tel Aviv for this Saturday are currently cancelled."
On Frankfurt Airport's page, two scheduled Lufthansa flights to Tel Aviv on Saturday were marked as cancelled.
Lufthansa's subsidiary, Swiss, has also suspended flights to Israel indefinitely, citing safety concerns due to the unclear political situation.
As stated by the airline, two daytime flights from Zurich to Tel Aviv and back were still scheduled to proceed after a thorough evaluation of the situation.
As reported by AeroTelegraph, several flights changed their course and returned after the start of the attacks. The Wizz Air flight from Rome returned to the Italian capital instead of Tel Aviv. Another airline's flight that was flying from Warsaw was redirected to Larkana, Cyprus, instead of Tel Aviv.
The report also mentions that Turkish Airlines turned back near Cyprus and returned to Istanbul.
Among other airlines, Air India and the Polish airline PLL LOT have also made the decision to cancel their flights.
PLL LOT spokesperson Krzysztof Mochulski stated that due to the situation in Israel, airlines are cancelling flights on the Warsaw – Tel Aviv route on Saturday. These were flights scheduled for the 14th and 23rd. According to him, the company will provide flight status updates in the coming days.
All Ryanair flights returned to their departure airports. The United Airlines Boeing 777 from San Francisco also returned.
Several other airlines are taking precautionary measures in response to heightened security in the region.
Hamas terrorists caught Israel by surprise early on Saturday morning when thousands of rockets and dozens of heavily armed individuals infiltrated southern Israel, resulting in over a hundred deaths and more than 800 injuries, with many taken hostage. In response, the Israel Defence Forces launched strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza.