Today the British budget airline easyJet announced that a huge number of scheduled flights to the Middle Eastern country will not go ahead as planned, with the total ban in place until October 27
All easyJet flights to Israel have been cancelled for the next six months.
Today the budget airline announced that a huge number of scheduled flights to the Middle Eastern country will not go ahead as planned, with the total ban in place until October 27. The move is a serious extension of the pause on services which was due to continue to April 21.
The decision has been made after the Iranian military launched an all-out aerial assault on Israel over the weekend following the country’s lengthy and bloody campaign in Gaza. Would-be passengers who try to book a flight to Israel on the easyJet website are given no option to do so until October 27.
A spokesperson for the airline said: “As a result of the continued evolving situation in Israel, easyJet has now taken the decision to suspend its flights to Tel Aviv for the remainder of the summer season. Customers booked to fly on this route up to this date are being offered options, including a full refund.”
The company had previously suspended flights until April 21, but has now extended the ban for the entire summer season, perhaps predicting that the conflict in the region will continue to escalate.
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Following the missile and drone bombardment over the weekend, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq temporarily closed their airspaces, while Israel and Iran imposed restrictions on theirs. Although the countries either have reopened their airspaces subsequently – or are likely to do so – airlines have to make a decision about whether they’ll fly to and over the region.
Many European and Asian airlines fly over the region on their way between a number of popular destinations in Asia. If they decide to reroute ticket prices may increase, as fuel costs and flight times are likely to rise. Deutsche Lufthansa, Qantas Airways and Singapore Airlines are all currently considering what to do, Euronews reports.
It is currently possible to fly from the UK to Israel, with Wizz Air, Vueling, El Al and Austrian Airlines all advertising flights departing today.
Wizz Air said that it was “closely monitoring the situation with the relevant authorities and keeping its passengers informed of all schedule changes”. “All passengers affected by the schedule changes will be provided with rebooking or refund options,” it added.
German airline group Lufthansa suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv, Erbil and Amman up to and including Monday, with services due to restart today. Flights to Beirut and Tehran would remain suspended until at least 18 April, the aviation firm has said.
A spokesperson said: “The Lufthansa Group had already decided on Friday, 12 April, to fly around Iranian airspace up to and including Thursday, 18 April, and thus temporarily suspend flights to Tehran.” Meanwhile, Dutch airline KLM has cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until Tuesday.
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