The attacks by the Hamas terrorist group against Israel have caused several airlines in the United States and the world to suspend their flights to or from Israel.
Although Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport remains open, several airlines announced the temporary suspension of their flights, at least for a few days or even weeks.
In fact, as of 2:00 p.m. ET this Monday, up to 119 flights scheduled to arrive or depart from Ben Gurion Airport had been canceled, according to the FlightAware website.
On Sunday, another 139 flights were canceled amid Hamas strikes across the Gaza border.
Delta Airlines is the airline with the most drastic measure so far, announcing that it suspended its trips to Tel Aviv until October 31. The rest of the airlines made more cautious announcements, canceling flights for several days.
The escalation of the conflict, amid a growing number of air attacks between Israel and Hamas, which has already forced the complete siege of Gaza, further alarmed the airlines that until this Monday had been monitoring the development of the situation while hundreds of thousands of Israelis abroad try to return to their country at the same time that other civilians, especially foreigners, wish to evacuate it.
United Airlines, which operated a pair of scheduled flights over the weekend, announced that its “Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions allow them to resume.”
American Airlines said in a statement that it canceled all flights to Tel Aviv through Friday.
"We continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed," the airline said.
Major airlines around the world have either temporarily suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv, including American Airlines and United Airlines, or canceled flights, like Delta Air Lines.
Delta has told The Post it will work with the U.S. government as needed to help American… pic.twitter.com/XFgudMhqW6
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 9, 2023
Among the international airlines that canceled their flights to and from Israel is Air Canada, which suspended its flights to Tel Aviv until October 12. Instead, British Airways told The Washington Post that it continues to operate in Israeli jurisdiction, despite the near-widespread suspensions.
Meanwhile, German airline Lufthansa canceled all its scheduled flights to and from Tel Aviv until October 14; and Air France, according to French authorities, suspended all its services in Tel Aviv until further notice.
