Lufthansa and Air France suspend flights to Israel
Published: Wednesday, Sep 18th 2024, 04:00
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Following the suspected coordinated explosions of hundreds of portable radio receivers in Lebanon, the airlines Lufthansa and Air France are suspending their flights to Israel until at least Thursday. On Tuesday evening, both companies blamed this on a short-term change in the security situation.
The Lebanese Hezbollah militia had blamed Israel for the explosions of the so-called pagers and announced retaliation. Israel's army initially did not comment on the incidents.
The airlines of the Lufthansa Group have decided with immediate effect to suspend not only all connections to and from Tel Aviv, but also to and from the Iranian capital Tehran, the company announced in Frankfurt. The entire Israeli and Iranian airspace would be bypassed up to and including Thursday. Air France announced that flights to Tel Aviv and the Lebanese capital Beirut had been suspended.
According to the Ministry of Health, around 2,750 people were injured and nine people were killed in the explosions in Lebanon on Tuesday. The condition of around 200 injured people is said to be critical. It is suspected that Israel may have deliberately detonated the devices in order to target Hezbollah fighters.
Passengers can rebook free of charge
The Lufthansa Group announced that it is continuing to monitor the situation closely and will continue to assess the situation in the coming days. Passengers will be offered a free rebooking to a later travel date or a full refund of the ticket price.
The Lufthansa Group only resumed its flights to Israel almost two weeks ago. Due to the ongoing tensions, Beirut airport will remain off-limits for the companies of the Group, which also includes Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, up to and including September 30.
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