Lufthansa only resumed its flights to Israel at the beginning of September. Now the company is stopping this connection again. The reason: the short-term change in the security situation.
Following the alleged 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. Both companies blamed this on a short-term change in the security situation on Tuesday evening.
The Lebanese Hezbollah militia had blamed Israel for the explosions of the so-called pagers and threatened retaliation. Israel’s army did not initially 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 will be avoided until Thursday. Air France announced that flights to Tel Aviv and the Lebanese capital Beirut have 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. There is speculation that Israel may have deliberately detonated the devices in order to target Hezbollah fighters.
Passengers can rebook free of charge
The Lufthansa Group said it is continuing to monitor the situation closely and will continue to evaluate the situation in the coming days. Passengers will be given the opportunity to rebook for a later travel date free of charge or receive a full refund of the ticket price.
The Lufthansa Group had only resumed its flights to Israel less than two weeks ago. Due to the ongoing tensions, Beirut Airport will remain off-limits to the group’s companies, which also include Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, until September 30th.
Source: Stern
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