Polish carrier PLL LOT has suspended flights to Tel Aviv due to the escalation of conflict in Israel and Gaza. Flights will be relaunched depending on the situation in the region.
"LOT has temporarily suspended flights to Israel, today's flight to Tel Aviv was cancelled. The resumption of flights will depend on the developments in Tel Aviv. Each time a security analysis will be made, based on which decisions will follow. I assume we won't be flying there in the next days" - LOT spokesperson Krzysztof Moczulski said.
He added that LOT had planned an average of three flights per week between Warsaw and Tel Aviv.
British Airways , Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa and Iberia all cancelled flights to Tel Aviv as European carriers joined U.S. airlines in avoiding flying to Israel, which has activated a back-up airport in the far south as a precaution against rockets from Gaza.
Palestinian militants have repeatedly shelled the Tel Aviv area during hostilities that erupted on Monday, raising safety concerns over Ben Gurion Airport, Israel's main airport, and prompting it to reroute some flights to Ramon Airport, some 200 km (125 miles) to the south, which serves Eilat.
Palestinian militants fired more rockets into Israel's commercial heartland on Thursday as Israel kept up a punishing bombing campaign in Gaza and massed tanks and troops on the enclave's border.
The four days of cross-border violence showed no sign of abating and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign "will take more time".
The violence has also spread to mixed communities of Jews and Arabs in Israel, a new front in the long conflict.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Shutterstock