Skift Take
U.S. carriers are halting flights to Tel Aviv after the killing of a Hamas political leader sparked concerns that a war could break out in the region.
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are pausing flights to Tel Aviv as tensions escalate in the Middle East.
United plans to suspend service to Tel Aviv starting Wednesday evening, a spokesperson told Skift. The carrier said it will suspend flights to the Israeli city until further notice for âsecurity reasons.â
âBeginning with this eveningâs flight from Newark Liberty to Tel Aviv, we are suspending for security reasons our daily Tel Aviv service as we evaluate our next steps,â the United spokesperson said. âWe continue to closely monitor the situation and will make decisions on resuming service with a focus on the safety of our customers and crews.â
Delta is pausing flights to Tel Aviv until August 2, citing ongoing conflict in the region. The airline is also issuing travel waivers to those who had flights scheduled to Tel Aviv through August 14. El Al, a partner of Delta, is still operating flights to Israel.
The pause in flights to Israel comes after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed while attending the inauguration of Iranâs new president. Now, Iran and its proxies are threatening to strike back at Israel for the assassination, according to The New York Times. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike.
United, along with other international carriers briefly paused flights to Israel in April after Iran launched an airstrike on Israel. Delta had only started flying to Tel Aviv in June.
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