TUI Fly Belgium has announced that it will be delaying the launch of its flights between the airport in Antwerp and Tel Aviv, a city in Israel, until the spring of 2024.
This decision was made last week on the 25th of October amid the rising regional tensions in the Middle East.
As per the airline authorities, the first flight to Tel Aviv will now be postponed. It was supposed to fly out on the 14th of December but has now been rescheduled for the 14th of March 2024.
A couple of weeks ago, TUI Fly announced that it was temporarily putting a stop to all flights going from Belgium and the Netherlands to the Israeli city.
The initial postponement was until the end of December of 2023, excluding the forthcoming flights that had been scheduled to fly out of Antwerp.
However, the flights going out of the Belgian city are now facing an extended delay.
Postponement
According to a spokesperson for TUI Fly, travelers who have booked a flight for the 14th of December will be sent text messages and emails to be informed of the change.
Consequently, the relevant passengers will have the opportunity to rebook their flights for a later date under the same conditions.
On the other hand, people who bought tickets will also be allowed to cancel their reservations if they do not want to rebook for a later date.
The changes in flight plans for TUI Fly and various other airlines going to and from Tel Aviv have been made as a precautionary measure.
This was after the tensions started to rise in the Middle East. As a result, half of the flights flying to Tel Aviv were canceled.
In addition, a number of airlines decided to reroute flights that were bound for Tel Aviv to an airport in Cyprus, namely the Larnaca Airport.
These airlines included Ryanair, as well as a United Airlines Boeing 777, which flew from San Francisco.
Other airlines
On this note, several airlines, which included Air India, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Air Canada, American Airlines, Emirates, Finland’s Finnair, Portugal’s TAP, and Air France, made alterations to their flight schedules for Tel Aviv.
They did so by reducing the number of flights that were supposed to land at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv or by canceling them altogether.
Meanwhile, the aviation authority in Israel has also announced that it will be adjusting air traffic routes that were recommended by airlines.
The airlines took this decision after reviewing security information and advised that due to potential delays, all airplanes should carry extra fuel to be on the safe side.
Finnair
Due to the rising tensions, Finnair, which is the largest airline in Finland, has announced that it will be suspending all flights to the Israeli city until March 2024.
A spokesperson for the airline said that the ministry and Finnair will work together to find a solution to land flights safely in Tel Aviv.
However, until a safe route can be found, the airline will not operate any flights, seeing that safety is their top priority.
