FAA Bans Flights to Israel In Wake of Rocket Strikes

Air travel to Israel was interrupted this week after U.S. aviation authorities responded to a rocket strike near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport by barring airlines from flying into or out of the airport for up to 24 hours.

On Tuesday, shortly after noon Eastern Time, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) issued the ban, citing a “potentially hazardous situation” in Israeli airspace “created by the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza.”
 
Delta, United and US Airways complied by suspending service. Delta was forced to divert a flight bound for Tel Aviv from New York to Paris.

A number of foreign airlines suspended service to Tel Aviv voluntarily while the European Aviation Safety Agency issued a “strong recommendation” to European carriers that they avoid flying into Tel Aviv until further notice.

The ban on air travel came less than a week after a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. The air tragedy raised new concerns about the safety of international airspace.

Impact on other travel
Some U.S. tour operators were forced to make alternate plans for travelers as a result of the short-term ban on flights to Israel.

Marlene Ritter, vice president of Livingston, N.J.-based Israel Tour Connection, said the firm had a number of clients in Israel whose travel plans were affected. “We have a couple of groups there,” Ritter told Travel Market Report.

Israel Tour Connection has a full staff in Israel and affected travelers were being taken care of. “Our land company is making sure everybody has a place to sleep, and they’re trying to accommodate them with flights tomorrow,” Ritter said on Tuesday.

Visiting Israel
Apart from the disruptions to their air travel plans, Israel Tour Connection’s clients were continuing with their itineraries as planned or with some alterations, said Ritter.

“We have a solidarity group over there of 45 rabbis. They’re seeing the troops and having meetings and doing their itinerary as it was.

“We have a bar mitzvah group there. They’re coming home tomorrow. We have, I believe, two other rabbis groups still there.”

Like her clients who are currently in Israel on a volunteer program, the rabbi groups “all want to stay,” Ritter said.

No disruption
Ya’lla Tours USA, based in Portland, Ore, had no customers affected by the interruption of U.S.-Tel Aviv air service, according Ronen Paldi, its president.

“The last person we had left at the end of the week. By pure coincidence nobody’s there now,” Paldi told Travel Market Report.

“We have a group of 16 people leaving from Bermuda to Cairo on Friday, and then from there to Israel.”

Short-term impact
Paldi noted the short duration of the FAA suspension.

“I don’t think it has major effect, other than a few people stranded in New York or Tel Aviv. It’s a really short-term effect,” he said.

“I really think this will very soon be resolved and things will be back to normal,” he added, referring both to air travel to and from Israel as well as the Israel-Gaza conflict.

“Everyone knows that Ben Gurion Airport is one of the safest in the world. We’re quite convinced that in the next day or two it will be back to normal.”

Asked if the mid-week timing of the flight ban lessened its impact, Paldi said no. “Many Israelis are going on their summer holidays. And many Americans that were there for summer holidays are going back home.”

The FAA said on Tuesday it would “continue to monitor and evaluate the situation. Updated instructions will be provided to U.S. airlines as soon as conditions permit, but no later than  24 hours from the time the [ban] went into force.”