British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are among European airlines cancelling flights to Tel Aviv amid an escalating conflict in Israel.
BA said after cancelling its flights to and from Tel Aviv on Thursday: “The safety and security of our colleagues and customers is always our top priority, and we continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Virgin Atlantic cancelled a Tel Aviv flight late on Wednesday and later today confirmed Thursday’s scheduled 21:25 VS453 Heathrow-Tel Aviv flight, and return leg VS454, were also cancelled.
Affected customers will be rebooked on the next available service, on Saturday May 15, or can choose to rebook for any date up to April 30, 2023, for no cost, the airline said.
Customers also have the option to request a travel voucher for the value of the fare, or a full cash refund.
Travellers who choose not to travel on flights that may take place in the coming weeks can use Virgin’s existing policy of amending for no fee up to April 30, 2023, or taking a voucher.
Those booked through a travel agent must contact their agent.
A spokesperson said: “We are monitoring events in Israel extremely carefully and keeping our Tel Aviv flight operations under constant review.
“The health and safety of our customers and our people always comes first and we apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused.”
Virgin Atlantic had said earlier this week that bookings to Israel had soared 250% week on week after Israel was placed on the government’s green list for the reopening of overseas travel from May 17.
American Airlines, Delta and United all cancelled flights between the US and Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
Iberia also dropped Tel Aviv flights on Thursday and Friday, with a decision on further services based on the evolution of the situation.