The German company Lufthansa and its Swiss subsidiary, Swiss, announced on Tuesday that they would extend the suspension of their flights to Beirut until November 30. The Dutch KLM will extend the suspension of its flights to Israel until the end of the year.
Taking into account the situation in the region, we have decided to extend the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until the end of the year,” said Elvira van der Vis, spokesperson for KLM. The company had announced in August that it suspended its flights to Israel until October 26.
For its part, Lufthansa has also decided to extend the suspension of its flights to Tel Aviv until October 31. The company has maintained the interruption of its connections to Tehran until October 14 inclusive. “Due to the current situation, the Lufthansa group is once again adapting its flight schedule,” the leading European airline group said in a press release.
“Slight delay” of Swiss flights
Its Swiss subsidiary Swiss also announced the suspension of its flights to and from Tel Aviv until Thursday October 31 inclusive. All flights to and from Beirut, initially suspended until October 26, will be canceled until Saturday November 30 inclusive.
The Swiss airline then indicated that it had decided to avoid certain airspaces in the region – Iran, Iraq and Jordan -, at least until Wednesday inclusive. “This measure will result in a slight increase in flight times for our flights to Dubai, India and Southeast Asia,” she said.
The Lufthansa group, which also includes Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has changed its flight schedule several times in recent months due to increased tensions in the Middle East, as have other airlines. This new update comes at a time when Israel is conducting a ground and air military operation in Lebanon.
Suspension after pagers explode
The Air France-KLM group announced Monday evening the suspension of Air France and Transavia flights to Beirut and Tel Aviv from Paris at least until October 8 inclusive “due to the security situation at destination”.
The resumption of connections with Beirut, suspended on September 18, and with Tel Aviv, which had been relaunched on the 21st after a three-day interruption, “will remain subject to an assessment of the situation on site”, specified the Air France group. -KLM in a press release.
The suspension of flights by Air France and its low-cost subsidiary began after the simultaneous explosion across Lebanon of pagers used by members of the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah on September 17, an operation that the pro-Iranian group attributed to Israel.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / awp / afp
