- British Airways resuming Tel Aviv flights
- Stops in Cyprus planned
- Adjustments due to tensions
Services between Tel Aviv and Heathrow will make an intermediate halt in Cyprus due to complications arising from regulations related to flying hours and British Airways’ policy of not allowing crew to remain in Israel between flights.
Beginning in April, British Airways (BA) plans to resume services to and from Israel.
The airline, which suspended services to Tel Aviv in October owing to escalating tensions between Israel and Hamas, announced that from 1 April, it intends to operate four weekly return flights.
“We have made the commercial decision to transfer Tel Aviv to our short-haul network when we resume operations on 1 April,” read a statement.
This aligns these flights with our other flights of similar duration; however, we will continue to review this decision.
Strategic Adjustments and Continuous Review
The decision to use smaller aircraft was seen as an indication of the likely reduction in demand due to the ongoing hostilities in the region.
Adapting Amidst Ongoing ConflictThe aim of resuming operations will be subject to continuous review given the dynamic nature of the conflict, BA further stated.
Individuals who have already booked flights to and from Tel Aviv will be contacted and offered the option of rescheduling to an alternative service, rebooking on a new short-haul flight, or requesting a refund.
BA stated that to transfer crews, the Heathrow-Tel Aviv flights would make a 45-minute stop in Cyprus.
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This was because, for safety reasons, flight crew were unable to stay in Tel Aviv at this time, and strict enforcement of flying hours regulations was necessary, according to BA.
BA was among the majority of major international airlines, excluding El Al, that suspended service to Tel Aviv last year due to the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas.
Fly Dubai and Etihad were two of the non-Israeli airlines that continued operations during that period.
EasyJet, which also grounded flights to Israel last year, stated it was keeping a close watch on the situation.
