Major airlines halt flights to Israel after Hamas attack
The Federal Aviation Administration urged U.S. airlines and pilots to use "extreme caution" when flying at any altitude in Israeli airspace, in an updated Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) statement issued early Sunday, following Hamas' large-scale surprise attack on Israel one day earlier.
The NOTAM mirrors a similar alert issued by the Israeli government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared "we are at war" after Saturday's attack, which left hundreds dead and thousands more injured. More than 300 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Palestinian health officials said Sunday.
"Due to the ongoing conflict situation in the region, between Israel and Gaza based extremist militants, operators are advised to review current security, threat information and NOTAMS," read the alert issued Saturday by the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority. It advised pilots to "exercise caution" and said delays were expected.
United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines all announced that they have temporarily suspended flights to and from the international airport near Tel Aviv.
"Future operations at TLV will be suspended until conditions allow them to resume," United said in a statement to CBS News.
Both Delta and AA said in statements that operations to Israel had been suspended through at least Sunday.
"We will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed," American Airlines said.
Delta added that it was "working to safely transport Delta people back to the U.S. and will work with the U.S. government as needed to assist with the repatriation of U.S. citizens who want to return home."
Also canceling flights were Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates, Ryanair and Aegean Airlines.
However, airport authorities did not stop commercial air links with Eilat, Israel's second international airport and tourist destination on the Red Sea.
"Given the current security situation in Tel Aviv, Lufthansa is canceling all flights to and from Tel Aviv up until and including Monday, a spokesman for the German carrier told AFP. The airline was "monitoring the security situation in Israel," he added.
Brussels Airline, part of the Lufthansa group, also canceled its Tel Aviv flights.
Air France said it had halted Tel Aviv flights "until further notice".
"Commercial measures are in place, allowing customers to postpone or cancel their trip free of charge", an Air France spokesman said.
Air France-KLM group's low-cost carrier Transavia announced it was canceling all flights from Paris and Lyon to Tel Aviv up to and including Monday. Spanish airline Iberia announced that its budget subsidiary Iberia Express was canceling its Tel Aviv flights.
Italy's flag-carrier ITA airways canceled its flight until Sunday morning at the earliest "to protect the safety of passengers and crew."
Spanish airline Iberia announced that its budget subsidiary Iberia Express was canceling its Tel Aviv flights. In Warsaw, Polish carrier LOT said it had canceled its flights from the Polish capital on Saturday.
