BA suspends Tel Aviv flights after Hamas says it attacked airport

British Airways (BA) has suspended flights to Tel Aviv – after Hamas mentioned it had attacked the Israeli airport.

It got here after a BA flight was on strategy to the airport when the captain made the choice to divert again to Heathrow.

A spokesperson for Israel’s airports authority mentioned rockets had been flying round Tel Aviv on the time however weren’t an instantaneous menace to the flight or to Ben Gurion Airport.

Hamas’s armed navy wing mentioned a missile had struck the grounds.

Al Qassam Brigades mentioned it had “bombarded” the positioning in response to civilians being focused by Israel.

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Information from flight-tracking web site Flightradar confirmed the flight in query, BA165, had virtually reached Tel Aviv when the touchdown was aborted.

Its imagery recommended that the aircraft banked to the suitable and continued again over the Mediterranean, largely retracing its inbound flight path from Heathrow.

The incident passed off earlier than Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who’s in Israel on a solidarity go to, was compelled to run for shelter when a siren warning of rocket fireplace sounded.

British Airways, which had been amongst solely a handful of worldwide airways to proceed flights to and from Tel Aviv since Saturday’s assault on Israel by Hamas, mentioned security was at all times its “highest priority”.

“Following the latest assessment of the situation we’re suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv”, the airline’s assertion continued.

“We’re contacting customers booked to travel to or from Tel Aviv to apologise for the inconvenience and offer options including a full refund and rebooking with another airline or with British Airways at a later date.

“We proceed to watch the scenario within the area intently.”

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Other airlines, including Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz halted services to Tel Aviv earlier in the week and were largely expected to maintain that position until such time air space was free of military threat.

Virgin Atlantic, which had curbed its schedule, was yet to make a decision on whether all its flights to the city would now be suspended.

A spokesperson said: “The security of our prospects and our groups is our primary precedence, at all times.

“We’re currently reviewing our flying programme and no further decision has been taken yet.”