EasyJet has cancelled all flights from the UK to Israel for more than six months due to rising tensions in the Middle East.
The budget airline said it would not reopen routes to Tel Aviv until October 27 – with any customers who already have tickets offered the choice of a refund.
The Luton-based company had previously suspended flights until April 21, but has now extended the ban to cover the entire summer season.
A spokesman said today: ‘As a result of the continued evolving situation in Israel, easyJet has now taken the decision to suspend its flights to Tel Aviv for the remainder of the summer season.
‘Customers booked to fly on this route up to this date are being offered options, including a full refund.’
EasyJet said it would not reopen routes to Tel Aviv until October 27 – with any customers who already have tickets offered the choice of a refund
A graphical representation of air traffic shows airspace over Iran and the neighbouring Middle East countries at 1am yesterday on Sunday following Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel
Saturday’s missile and drone assault on Israel by Iran has caused ‘chaos’ in the aviation industry after further narrowing options for planes navigating between Europe and Asia.
More than ten airlines have had to cancel or reroute flights over the last two days, including easyJet, Qantas, KLM, Lufthansa, WizzAir, United Airlines and Air India.
Experts claimed this made it the biggest single disruption to air travel since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11, 2001.
German airline Lufthansa has suspended its flights to and from Iran, while others including ‘s Qantas and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) have rerouted planes to avoid Iran’s airspace. EasyJet and WizzAir have also cancelled flights to Tel Aviv.
Mark Zee, founder of Ops Group, which monitors airspace and airports, said: ‘Not since (9/11) have we had a situation with that many different air spaces closed down in that quick succession, and that creates chaos.’
ISRAEL: Passengers wait for flight updates at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday
LEBANON: Passengers wait at Beirut Rafic Hariri Airport after Lebanon closed its airspace
Iran’s airspace is used by airlines travelling between Europe and Asia and those carriers will be restricted to two viable alternative routes, either through Turkey or via Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Mr Zee said.
German airline Lufthansa has suspended its flights to and from Iran, while others including n airline Qantas rerouted planes to avoid Iran’s airspace.
This meant it had to temporarily reroute the popular direct flight between Perth and London, meaning it will instead have to land in Singapore en route to Britain.
A Qantas spokesperson said: ‘We’re temporarily adjusting the flight paths for our flights between Perth and London due to the situation in parts of the Middle East.
‘We’ll reach out to customers directly if there’s any change to their booking.’
Qantas said no flights between Perth, the capital of Western state, and London had been paused or cancelled, but that flights on the route were operating on the adjusted flight path via Singapore.
IRAQ: Empty roads leading to Baghdad Airport are seen yesterday after Iraq closed its airspace
ISRAEL: An info board shows cancelled flights at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday
LEBANON: Empty areas at Beirut Rafic Hariri Airport on Sunday after Lebanon closed airspace
The Sydney-based airline’s other flights to and from London remained unchanged as they take different flight paths.
KLM cancelled all flights to and from Tel Aviv until today, a spokesperson for the Dutch arm of Air France KLM said yesterday.
Finnair suspended operations in Iranian airspace until further notice, which may cause longer flight times on flights from Doha.
A spokesperson said the Finnish carrier will reroute over Egypt, resulting in delays of a ‘few minutes’.
Meanwhile an SAS spokesperson said flights between Copenhagen and Bangkok fly partially over the region, and one flight had to reroute on the night between Saturday and yesterday.
Air Canada warned of long delays and cancellations on its Israel flights, and cancelled flights to Tel Aviv today.
China Southern Airlines cancelled yesterday’s flight to Iran, and Hainan Airlines said it is monitoring the situation and evaluating whether an upcoming flight to Israel can fly normally, Chinese business outlet Yicai reported.
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Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran
British Airways is not thought to have been impacted because it was already avoiding Iranian airspace, and has not run any flights to Tehran in 2018.
Israel closed its airspace on Saturday, before reopening it yesterday morning.
Disruption is changing by the hour: Travel expert NICKY KELVIN reveals what to do if you’re worried about a flight being cancelled
Flight disruptions related to Iran’s attack on Israel are significant and are changing by the hour.
Not all airlines and routes are affected – for example, airlines like Qatar and Emirates are still flying in Iranian airspace.
Lots of airlines have been cancelling flights to and from both Israel and Iran, but these are short-term measures and are not blanket measures across all airlines.
Therefore, the best advice for travellers both in that region – but also any travellers flying over the region, who may be affected by airspace restrictions – is to check the latest with their airlines, and airports, especially for those flying in the next day or two.
For those that are able to rearrange travel easily, it could be advisable to delay travel to try and avoid the disruptions and the knock-on effects of the disruption happening right now, which could take some days or weeks to fully resolve.
Most airlines cancelling flights are offering flexible rebooking options, or free cancellation, or in some cases rebooking on different airlines. You should contact your airline now if your flight is in the coming days, and ask what your available options are.
For those wanting a real time view on where aircraft are flying, the FlightRadar24 website is a helpful tool to see exactly where aircraft are on the map, what airspace might be open or closed, and which airlines are flying where.
NICKY KELVIN is editor at The Points Guy. For more of his tips, click here
The attack also prompted several countries in the Middle East including Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq to close their airspace overnight from Saturday to Sunday, but all have reopened.
Major Middle East airlines, including Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways, said yesterday they would resume operation in the region after cancelling or rerouting some flights.
Independent aviation analyst Brendan Sobie said it was not yet clear if the latest unrest would impact passenger demand, which has remained robust despite ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
He added: ‘If the political situation and the conflicts continue to escalate then at some point people will be concerned about travelling, but so far that hasn’t happened.’
Airports in Tehran and elsewhere in Iran also resumed operations today following the temporary suspension, according to the country’s state media.
Flights were suspended late on Saturday, but the official IRNA news agency reported that ‘flights at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran were back to normal’ as of 6am local time (3.30am UK time).
IRNA said the domestic Mehrabad airport in Tehran and others across the country including Tabriz in the north-west, Mashhad in the north-east and Shiraz in the south were all now ‘operating as scheduled’.
It comes as Lord David Cameron today urged Israel to be ‘smart as well as tough’ by not escalating the conflict with Iran.
Israel should recognise Tehran’s attack on the weekend as an ‘almost total failure’ and ‘think with head as well as heart’ in its response, the Foreign Secretary said.
He confirmed that British RAF jets shot down ‘a small number’ of drones fired by Iran in what was its first direct military assault on Israeli soil.
The unprecedented attack by Iran, which it said was in retaliation against a strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria earlier this month, has raised fears over the Israel-Hamas war spiralling into a wider regional conflagration.
Speaking ahead of a Commons statement by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the matter, Lord Cameron today echoed US President Joe Biden’s comment that Israel should view the successful defence against around 350 drones and missiles launched by Iran as a victory.
An Israeli offensive in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack that claimed the lives of 1,200 people, has caused widespread devastation and killed more than 33,000 Palestinians.
Leaders of the G7 yesterday warned an ‘uncontrollable regional escalation’ in the Middle East must be prevented and said they ‘stand ready to take further measures now and in response to further destabilising initiatives’.
All eyes will be on the response from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, with countries in the region and elsewhere urging restraint to avoid intensifying the conflict.