by Sarah Young, Tim Hepher and Joanna Plucinska
(Reuters) – Several airlines suspended or limited flights to and from Tel Aviv after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, saying they wanted to wait until security conditions improve.
The armed incursion by Hamas activists into Israel left more than 700 dead on the Israeli side. Attackers from the Islamist movement also kidnapped dozens of people in Israeli territory and brought them back to the Gaza Strip. In retaliation, Israel carried out airstrikes against the Palestinian enclave.
Regulators including the US Federal Aviation Administration, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the Israel Aviation Authority have called on airlines to exercise caution when crossing the region’s airspace, without going so far as to ban flights.
On Sunday, US airlines United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines announced they had suspended direct flights to Tel Aviv from major cities including New York, Chicago, Washington and Miami.
In Europe, Air France and Finnair have also suspended their direct flights.
EasyJet said it suspended its flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday and Monday and indicated that it would adjust its flight schedule in the coming days.
All Lufthansa group companies have canceled their flights to and from Tel Aviv. Same decision for the Portuguese TAP and the Hungarian Wizz Air.
For its part, Virgin Atlantic declared that it would continue to operate certain flights, but offered its customers the possibility of making a new reservation or requesting a refund until October 15.
Hainan Airlines, the only Chinese airline to operate flights between Israel and China, canceled its flights Monday between Tel Aviv and Shanghai, citing the security situation in Israel.
RISK ASSESSMENT
In a memo, Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority asked airlines to “review current security and threat information” due to the conflict in the region. It indicates that it has modified certain air routes and warns of expected delays.
For its part, the European Aviation Safety Agency has asked companies to ensure that a “robust risk assessment is in place, as well as a high level of emergency planning” when flying over Israeli airspace.
Some companies continued to operate to Israel. According to the Flightradar24 website, flights from Ryanair, flyDubai and national carrier El Al arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.
The Israel Airports Authority said on its website that Ben Gurion Airport continued to manage arrivals and departures.
IMPACT ON THE STOCK MARKET
A salvo of rockets targeting the Tel Aviv area on Monday had no impact on the airport, an airport authority spokesperson said.
A video posted online appeared to show smoke rising from the airport. The spokesperson said there had been a mid-flight rocket interception and a possible impact in a nearby village.
The situation affects the stock prices of airlines in Europe and the United States. The Stoxx 600 transport and leisure index lost 0.51% with declines of between 2% and more than 4% for easyJet, Air France-KLM, IAG, Lufthansa and Ryanair.
On the New York Stock Exchange, United Airlines shares fell 2.4% before trading, Delta Air Lines shares fell 2.2% and American Airlines shares fell 1.7%.
(Reporting Douglas Gillison, Sophie Yu, Farah Master, Joyce Lee and Brenda Goh, Tim Hepher, Ilona Wissenbach, Sergio Goncalves in Lisbon, Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, Sarah Young and Joanna Plucinska in London; Blandine Hénault for the French version, edited by Kate Entringer)
©2023 Thomson Reuters, all rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Reuters” and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.