BA and Virgin Atlantic suspend Israel flights as Hamas conflict rages on

12 October 2023 , 10:15

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British Airways has temporarily suspended flights to Israel (Image: Getty Images)

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are the latest airlines to have announced temporary suspensions of flights to Israel as the Hamas conflict rages on.

While other airlines including easyJet, Wizz Air and Ryanair have already suspended flights, BA and Virgin Atlantic had originally said they were monitoring the situation but had not suspended routes. However, on Wednesday a British Airways flight to Tel Aviv was diverted over 'security concerns', leading to the airline suspending all flights to and from Israel.

In a statement, British Airways said: "Safety is always our highest priority and following the latest assessment of the situation we’re suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv. We’re contacting customers booked to travel to or from Tel Aviv to apologise for the inconvenience and offer options including a full refund and rebooking with another airline or with British Airways at a later date. We continue to monitor the situation in the region closely."

BA and Virgin Atlantic are the latest airlines to cancel flights (AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile Virgin Atlantic also announced a temporary suspension of flights to Israel on Wednesday which is in place for 72 hours. The company issued an update on its website for passengers explaining: "Due to the ongoing situation in Israel, some of our flights to and from Tel Aviv may face delays or cancellations. Based on the latest information, we have taken the decision to pause flying to and from Tel Aviv for the next 72 hours.

"The safety and security of our customers and our people are our number one priority and our flying programme to Israel remains under constant review. We would advise anyone booked to travel to check their flight status on the website before travelling to the airport.

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"As a result, we have cancelled the following flights:

• VS453 departing at 22:10 local from London Heathrow-Tel Aviv 10th October - 27th October
• VS454 departing at 05:55 local from Tel Aviv-London Heathrow 11th October - 28th October
• VS457 departing at 08:50 local from London Heathrow-Tel Aviv 12th October – 15th October
• VS458 departing 16:25 local from Tel Aviv-London Heathrow 12th October – 15th October

"If you were booked to travel on a cancelled service between the 17th and 28th October, your flight will still show as operating until the changes have been made in our system this Saturday."

The Foreign Office is currently advising against all but essential travel to Israel. The government is also advising against all travel to certain regions including:

While it has an 'all but essential travel' warning to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Foreign Office has advised against all travel to certain regions including:

• Gaza
• the Sheba’a Farms and Ghajjar
• within 500m of the border with Lebanon (the ‘Blue Line’) east of Metula, including the northern edge of the town and within 500m of the border with Syria (the ‘Alpha Line’)
• the area close to the border with Gaza that includes:
  • southwest of Ashkelon
  • south of route 35 and west of route 40 as far as Tlalim, not including Be’er Sheva
  • west of Be’er Sheva
  • north of route 211

For further information head to the Foreign Office's Israel travel advice.

Julie Delahaye