Major international airlines are nervously eyeing the developing situation in the Middle East as a tense truce between Israel and Hamas abruptly ended on Monday night after President Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s health ministry, which the designated terrorist organization Hamas controls, has claimed that more than 400 innocent civilians have been killed in the airstrikes, and many more are either missing or have been injured.
Netanyahu has vowed to act with “increasing military strength” after mediated ceasefire talks in Qatar between Hamas and the Israeli government broke down over allegations that the Iran-backed group has reneged on its promise to release the remaining Israel hostages still held in Gaza.
After a ceasefire deal brokered with the help of the incoming Trump administration brought a cessation of hostilities in early January, airlines eagerly announced the resumptions of flights to Israel over the coming months, despite the fact that the initial ceasefire wasn’t extended beyond early March.
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport has been gearing up for a massive spike in passenger numbers as major international carriers like Air Canada, British Airways, Delta, and United Airlines restart non-stop flights to Israel from April.
United Airlines is the first US-based carrier to resume non-stop flights to Tel Aviv, after the first scheduled flight in nearly nine months departed Newark Liberty Airport for the Israeli city on March 15.
Delta Air Lines is slated to restart Tel Aviv services from New York on April 1, while British Airways will follow suit from its hub at London Heathrow on April 5.
Germany’s Lufthansa Group returned to Israel back in February, while Hungarian budget carrier has also resumed flights to Tel Aviv. Europe’s biggest low-cost carrier, Ryanair, is expected to restart flights on March 30, while EasyJet is delaying the resumption of flights until June.
In the same month, Dutch flag carrier KLM is also hoping to resume flights, as is Air Canada.
Since announcing their respective plans to return to Israel, many international carriers have stressed that they have been continuously monitoring the security situation and are ready to adapt their plans if the safety of their planes and crew cannot be guaranteed.
North American carriers face a particular challenge in resuming Israel flights because they want to operate non-stop flights to Tel Aviv, which will require pilots and flight attendants to stay overnight in the city.
In the event that Hamas restarts rocket attacks on Israel, it may become too unsafe for airline crews to stay in Tel Aviv, prompting a rethink by these airlines for their plans to resume flights.
European carriers have the option to operate flights to Tel Aviv as so-called ‘turnarounds’ in which crew remain onboard the aircraft and do not stay in Israel overnight.
Lufthansa is currently operating flights as ‘turnarounds’, but even European carriers would like the flexibility of having crew overnight in Tel Aviv.
