British Airways and Wizz Air suspend flights to Israel amid escalation
British Airways and Wizz Air flights between the UK and Israel have been cancelled following an escalation of hostilities in the Middle East overnight.
British Airways has halted its flights between Heathrow and Tel Aviv in both directions between Sunday and Wednesday, the airline said.
Wizz Air also said it is “temporarily suspending” flights to and from Israel on Sunday “due to the escalating situation in the region”.
Both had been among many carriers which suspended flights to the country in October last year, after the start of its conflict with Hamas.
Wizz Air and British Airways resumed operations to Israel in March and April, respectively.
A spokesman for British Airways said: “We’ve been continually monitoring the situation in the Middle East and have taken the operational decision to suspend our flights to and from Tel Aviv up to and including Wednesday 28 August.
“Safety is always our top priority, and we’re contacting customers to advise them of their travel options.”
Wizz Air, whose flights leave from Luton Airport, has not yet announced any further cancellations and a spokesperson said affected customers will be allowed to rebook free of charge or given full refunds.
Those who booked through online travel agencies or other third parties should contact them, the airline added.
The cancellations come after the Israeli military said it had launched “pre-emptive” strikes against the militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Sunday.
Virgin Atlantic said it will extend the suspension of its daily flight between Heathrow and Tel Aviv in both directions after a “security and safety assessment”.
The airline will now resume the flights from September 25.
A spokesman said: “Following the latest security and safety assessment and after careful consideration we have taken the difficult decision to delay the restart of our Tel Aviv services.
“Daily flights are now planned to resume on 25 September from London to Tel Aviv. We’d like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused.
“Our teams will be in contact with anyone affected to discuss options, which include rebooking to a later date or a full refund.
“In the meantime, customers can benefit from our partnership with El Al which operates multiple daily flights between Heathrow and Ben Gurion Airport.
“We remain committed to our services to Israel and look forward to resuming flights to Tel Aviv as soon as the situation permits.”
Virgin Atlantic flights had previously been due to restart on September 5.
British Airways flights from Heathrow to Tel Aviv from Thursday and beyond are currently labelled as “re-routed” on the airline’s online flight status tool.
Press Association – Piers Mucklejohn