Airlines suspend flights from UK to Tel Aviv after plane turns back in Hamas barrage

11 October 2023, 19:20

Airlines serving UK airports have suspended flights to Tel Aviv after a BA plane was forced to turn back for security reasons when Hamas fired rockets close to the Israeli city.

Israel said that the missiles fired on Wednesday did not come close to the airport.

The flight, which set off from London, got as far as northern Israel before turning back.

Suspending flights to Tel Aviv after the incident, British Airways said: "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."

Easyjet has paused its flights from Gatwick, Luton and Manchester while Virgin Atlantic said it would stop flights to the city for 72 hours.

Virgin said: "As the dynamic situation evolves, we'll keep our flying programme under constant review. Our teams will be in contact with any affected customers to discuss their options, which include rebooking to a later date or a full refund.

"We would advise anyone booked to travel to check their flight status on the website before travelling to the airport."

Wizz Air, which flies to Israel from Gatwick and Luton, has also paused those routes.

BA had been one of the few airlines still operating flights to and from Israel amid the fighting.

A video purportedly filmed in Ben-Gurion Airport appears to show passengers ducking for cover amid shelling.

Read more: Foreign secretary James Cleverly forced to run for cover after Hamas rocket alarms set off in Israel

Read more: Gaza will become a 'tent city': Israel masses 300,000 troops for invasion as it issues chilling warning to Hamas

It comes as Israel is preparing to send 300,000 soldiers in to Gaza as the country's force prepare to wipe out Hamas's ability to wreak more horror.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have been pummelling the densely populated strip since the terror group massacred towns and villages and kidnapped civilians.

Its air strikes precede what is expected to be massive ground invasion of the area, which contains two million people, after Benjamin Netanyahu called up reservists.

"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."

Armoured vehicles including tanks are poised to go in, and artillery is also massing at the border as part of Operation Iron Swords.

Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the IDF, said the military is preparing "to execute the mission we have been given by the Israeli government… to make sure that Hamas, at the end of this war, won't have any military capabilities by which they can threaten or kill Israeli civilians".

But any battles in the dense urban environment - much of which is made up of homes built over places that once housed refugees fleeing their former homes in what is now Israel - is expected to be fierce.