Airlines mull resumption of some Middle East flights after ceasefire
Lufthansa is set to resume flights to and from Tel Aviv and Wizz Air restarted its London to Tel Aviv route on Thursday
16 January 2025 - 15:10
byAgency Staff
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Lufthansa jets parked at an airport in Frankfurt, Germany, March 7 2024. Picture: REUTERS/ Kai Pfaffenbach
Berlin — Germany’s Lufthansa Group is set to resume flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel from February 1 and Wizz Air restarted its London to Tel Aviv route on Thursday, the companies said after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Many Western carriers cancelled flights to parts of the Middle East in recent months, including Beirut and Tel Aviv, as conflict tore across the region. Airlines also avoided Iraqi and Iranian airspace out of fear of getting accidentally caught in drone or missile warfare.
Wizz Air also resumed flights to Amman, with Jordan starting on Thursday from London Luton airport.
Lufthansa Group carriers Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Austrian Airlines and Swiss were included in Lufthansa’s decision to resume flights to Tel Aviv.
Ryanair said it was hoping to run a full summer schedule to and from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv in an interview with Reuters last week, before the ceasefire deal was announced.
In the wake of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Turkish Airlines said it would start flights to Damascus, the Syrian capital, on January 23, with three flights per week.
But airlines remained cautious and watchful before re-entering the region in full, they said.
The suspension of Lufthansa flights to and from Tehran up to and including February 14 remained in place and the airline would not fly to Beirut in Lebanon up to and including February 28, it said.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Airlines mull resumption of some Middle East flights after ceasefire
Lufthansa is set to resume flights to and from Tel Aviv and Wizz Air restarted its London to Tel Aviv route on Thursday
Berlin — Germany’s Lufthansa Group is set to resume flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel from February 1 and Wizz Air restarted its London to Tel Aviv route on Thursday, the companies said after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Many Western carriers cancelled flights to parts of the Middle East in recent months, including Beirut and Tel Aviv, as conflict tore across the region. Airlines also avoided Iraqi and Iranian airspace out of fear of getting accidentally caught in drone or missile warfare.
Wizz Air also resumed flights to Amman, with Jordan starting on Thursday from London Luton airport.
Lufthansa Group carriers Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Austrian Airlines and Swiss were included in Lufthansa’s decision to resume flights to Tel Aviv.
Ryanair said it was hoping to run a full summer schedule to and from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv in an interview with Reuters last week, before the ceasefire deal was announced.
In the wake of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Turkish Airlines said it would start flights to Damascus, the Syrian capital, on January 23, with three flights per week.
But airlines remained cautious and watchful before re-entering the region in full, they said.
The suspension of Lufthansa flights to and from Tehran up to and including February 14 remained in place and the airline would not fly to Beirut in Lebanon up to and including February 28, it said.
Reuters
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