Reuters :
US air carriers Delta Air Lines and US Airways on Tuesday said they have halted flights to Israel to ensure passenger safety.
Delta said in a statement that it has suspended operations “until further notice” to and from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv and its hub at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. The Atlanta-based carrier said it was doing so in co-ordination with the Federal Aviation Administration “to ensure the safety of our customers and employees.”
Esther Castiel, who heads US Airways’ operations in Tel Aviv, said the FAA had “issued a request not to travel to Israel. All US carriers are stopping.”
She added that it was not clear whether the travel halt was for one day or more.
The decision came after Hamas, the militant group that dominates in the Gaza
Strip, and its allies fired more rockets into Israel, triggering sirens in Tel Aviv. One hit a town on the fringes of Ben-Gurion International Airport, lightly injuring two people, officials said.
United Airlines, a unit of American Airlines Group, did not immediately return a request for comment.
Airlines and passengers are growing more anxious about safety since last week, when a Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.
Earlier Tuesday, the White House said the FAA has not issued any notices regarding flights over the Gaza region in the Middle East despite the current conflict.
“As it relates to the airspace in Gaza … the FAA has not issued any notices related to the ongoing violence in that region of the world,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. “This does serve to illustrate, though, that it’s individual carriers who make the decisions about their flight plans and whether or not to alter specific routes based on hostilities on the ground.”
