Multiple carriers have cancelled their planned flights to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion due to safety concerns related to the ongoing war between Israel and the Gaza Strip-based Hamas militant group. Israeli carriers continue to operate according to their schedules, however, and the country’s main gateway and entire airspace are open to civilian operations.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Israel issued NOTAM A1057/23 on October 8 advising all airlines to review the changing safety and threat notifications. The regulator said it was “mitigating the risk to an accepted level of safety” but conceded that delays were possible. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an advisory Conflict Information Zone Bulletin (CZIB) on the same date confirming that, in its opinion, “there are no indications that these mitigation measures are not efficient or inadequate”. The EU regulator is not actively recommending against flights to Israel and the US FAA has not issued its own NOTAMs concerning Israel.
As such, the only regulator to take steps limiting operations to Israel is Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, which banned all night-time flights to Tel Aviv by Russian carriers.
Despite the lack of regulatory restrictions, multiple carriers decided to cancel at least some of their flights to Israel. The list includes all Lufthansa Group carriers, LOT Polish Airlines, Wizz Air UK, Ryanair, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Air France, and American Airlines. Cancellations are on a day-to-day basis and none of the airlines has announced a permanent suspension of services to Israel.
Meanwhile, El Al Israel Airlines, Arkia Israeli Airlines, and Israir said they would continue flights from Tel Aviv as planned. The airlines also relaxed their fare policies, allowing passengers to postpone their flights. El Al also announced it would operate rescue flights for Israelis stranded abroad due to the cancellations of foreign airlines.
Tel Aviv airport remains open with no major operational restrictions, although all flights from Terminal 1 have been moved to Terminal 3.
Hamas began a large-scale attack on Israel on the morning of October 7. In response, Israel declared a state of war and began attacking the Hamas-controlled territory of the Gaza Strip. Clashes between the two sides continue on a large scale, concentrated in and around the Gaza Strip.