Etihad To Fly And Emirates To Halt, Travel Plans To Israel In Doldrums
The flight traffic to Israel has witnessed many cancellations as the conflict situation in the region shows no signs of abating. This being the case, Etihad has resumed flights while Emirates have put a halt to all flights to Israel till October 20. The flag carrier airlines of UAE, Etihad and Emirates have taken different stances on flying to Tel Aviv. There have been cancellations and postponements on flights to Tel Aviv amid the peak demand phase of business- travels, reported Gulf News. Tel Aviv is also a transit hub for travelers.
During the last few days, since the war broke out between Israel and Hamas, many international air carriers have curtailed their number of flight while some have even called back their nationals. A statement from Etihad Airways said that, “Etihad is continuing to monitor the situation and maintains close contact with the authorities and security intelligence providers on an hour-by-hour basis.” Etihad had cancelled travel since October 8 but restarted again on October 11 with passenger and cargo services.
The Emirati government owned airline, flydubai, had cancelled and resumed flights, its spokesperson said, “from October 13, flydubai will consolidate its flight schedule to Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) and will operate two daily flights FZ 1549/1550 and FZ 1209/1210.” The airline also added that, they “continue to monitor the situation closely,” and that they are “liaising with the relevant authorities regarding the ongoing developments.”
Emirates have announced the cancellation of all flights till October 20, saying that they are “closely monitoring the situation in Israel and are in close contact with the relevant authorities.”
“There is an anticipation of potential flight disruptions, temporary suspensions, or reroutes. Direct flights between the UAE and Israel were significant for both leisure and business purposes,” Ranjit Peter, Business Head Air MEA at Travel Boutique Online, one of India”s leading travel distribution platform said.
In 2023, until summer, Dubai had 209,000 people visit from Israel, which made the country the 10th largest source for tourist, this was a significant rise of 71 percent from the year before. Similarly, in the case of Abu Dhabi, Israel had taken up the position of 11th country bringing in inbound tourists, with the number standing at 9,000.
International carriers – Air India, Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, along with many US carriers have suspended their flight operations temporarily. Germany’s Lufthansa has suspended flights until October 14 while Air France has suspended flights indefinitely.
The National Security Council of Israel have advised to reconsider travel plans due to the ongoing situation.
