Most foreign airlines halt flights to Tel Aviv after Houthi missile hits airport

Major foreign airlines, including German carrier Lufthansa, France’s Air France, US carrier Delta and Hungary’s Wizz Air, on Sunday canceled their scheduled flights to Tel Aviv, after a ballistic missile from Yemen struck inside the grounds of Israel’s main airport, Ben Gurion International, Report informs via The Times of Israel.

By Sunday late afternoon, only a few foreign airlines were still confirmed to be flying.

Among European airlines, the Lufthansa group — which also includes SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines — halted all flights to Ben Gurion Airport scheduled to depart on Sunday from Frankfurt, Vienna, Zurich and Munich, until Tuesday.

“Due to the current situation, the Lufthansa Group has decided to suspend its flights to and from Tel Aviv up until and including May 6,” Lufthansa said in a statement. “Affected guests will be notified and rebooked on alternative flights, subject to availability.”

Wizz Air announced it was canceling its flights to Israel until Tuesday morning while “closely monitoring the situation.” Spanish airline Air Europa halted its scheduled flight departing from Madrid to Tel Aviv, citing “security reasons.”

Air France also nixed its Sunday flight services to Tel Aviv. TUS Airways halted flights to and from Cyprus through May 5. Air India canceled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until May 6 and British Airways until May 7.

ITA Airways said that “due to the current circumstances,” it has decided to suspend flights from Rome to Tel Aviv until May 7. Low-cost Irish carrier Ryanair informed passengers that it was “forced to cancel flights to and from Tel Aviv due to operational restrictions which are beyond our control.” LOT Polish Airlines called off all its flights until Tuesday, May 6.

Among US carriers, United Airlines suspended its twice-daily service between New York and Tel Aviv through May 8, as the carrier said it is assessing the situation.

“We will make decisions on resuming service with a focus on the safety of our customers and crews,” United said in an e-mail.

Delta Air Lines canceled its Sunday afternoon flight departing from New York’s JFK airport to Ben Gurion, adding that the “safety and security of our customers and crews is our No. 1 priority.”