(Reuters) -Lufthansa will resume flights to Tel Aviv starting Jan. 8, the airline said on Friday, making it the one of the first major international carriers to announce a resumption in service cancelled in October following Hamas attacks.
While Israel did not close its airspace to civil flights after Hamas’ gunmen stormed Israeli towns on Oct. 7, international airlines stopped flying to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and to Lebanon.
Lufthansa said it had resumed flights to Beirut on Friday along with Swiss Airlines and Eurowings.
Flights to Israel will be available for booking starting on Monday, Lufthansa said.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines both said on Friday that they have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv through March 29. Delta said it continues “to evaluate conditions related to this service in particular”.
United Airlines said Friday its Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions permit.
British Airways has suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv through Jan. 10, Vueling until Jan 13 and Iberia Express until Feb 29, owner IAG said Friday.
Air France-KLM, Ryanair and EasyJet did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on whether they would also resume flying to Israel.
(Reporting by Paolo Laudani, Joanna Plucinska and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Sarah Marsh, Jan Harvey, Peter Graff and Cynthia Osterman)
