Virgin Atlantic extends Tel Aviv flight pause into September
James ChappleVirgin Atlantic has extended its decision to pause flights to Tel Aviv until early September, but has stressed it remains committed to serving Israel from the UK in the future.
It has cancelled all planned departures of one of its two daily services, VS453/VS454, up to and including 4 September. The other, VS457/VS458, is not currently scheduled to operate in 2024.
Both services operate from Heathrow airport. The route had been due to restart from 30 March.
All customers booked to travel with Virgin to Tel Aviv between now and 4 September can rebook to another date without incurring additional fees until 15 December or seek a full refund.
Virgin said it would keep its Tel Aviv services under constant review; booked customers can check the status of their flight on the Virgin Atlantic website.
A spokesperson said: “After careful consideration, we have taken the difficult decision to extend our pause on flying to and from Tel Aviv up to and including 4 September 2024.
"We sincerely apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused and our teams will be in contact with anyone affected to discuss their options, which include rebooking to a later date or a full refund.
"We remain committed to our Israel services and look forward to resuming flights to Tel Aviv in September. We advise anyone booked to travel to check their flight status on the website before travelling."
Several other carriers have amended their Israel schedules owing to the ongoing – and escalating – conflict in Gaza.
British Airways flights to and from Tel Aviv are currently suspended up to and including 31 March. It said its teams are continuing to monitor the situation in the region closely.
EasyJet’s Israel flight programme to Tel Aviv remains suspended, and is being reviewed "on a regular basis". EasyJet said passengers with Tel Aviv bookings would be notified of any cancellations no later than four weeks before their flight.
Ryanair is currently operating to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport, although it has cancelled all of its flights to and from the airport from 27 February onwards owing to the closure of Terminal 1, which is used by low-cost carriers.
All Wizz Air flights to Tel Aviv are currently suspended until 1 March. It offers a UK connection from Luton.
Israeli carrier El Al, meanwhile, continues to operate to Tel Aviv from Heathrow and Luton. Twice-daily Heathrow services operate Sunday to Thursday, plus a Saturday night departure, while daily Luton services operate Sunday to Friday. From the end of March, El Al will increase its Luton-Tel Aviv service to twice-daily Sunday to Thursday, plus a single Friday departure.
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