BA and easyJet to resume Israel flights following ceasefire

EasyJet will resume links to Tel Aviv from 1 June - (Getty Images)

British Airways and easyJet are among major airlines planning to reinstate flights to the Middle East following a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Over the last 15 months of conflict, several Western carriers pulled out of flights to Israel, Jordan and Lebanon as missile attacks closed skies over Iraq and Iran in unpredictable airspace.

After the announcement that fighting was to pause last Sunday (19 January), Wizz Air resumed links from London to Tel Aviv, Israel and Amman in Jordan from 16 January.

The low-cost Hungarian airline will fly to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport from several European cities, including Budapest, Vienna and Milan.

Flag carrier British Airways also said it plans to return to Tel Aviv in April while budget airline easyJet has confirmed it will restart links to Tel Aviv from Luton airport on 1 June.

“We are really pleased that as of the beginning of June, we plan to resume flights between Tel Aviv and seven destinations across our network,” said Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK and Israel country manager.

Lufthansa is similarly set to restart flights to and from Tel Aviv from 1 February across all of the group’s carriers, including Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and Swiss.

However, the German airline's suspension of flights to Tehran, Iran remains until at least 14 February, with no aircraft taking off for Beirut, Lebanon up to and including 28 February.

Air France-KLM said its Tel Aviv operations remain paused until 24 January, while its flights connecting Paris and Beirut will stay suspended until the end of this month.

Ryanair DAC chief executive Eddie Wilson told Reuters that he expected the airline to operate a full summer schedule to and from Israel.

Elsewhere, the national airline of Qatar announced that it will resume weekly flights to Syria 13 years after its cancelling operations.

As of 7 January, Qatar Airways offers three weekly flights between Qatar and Damascus, Syria.

In 2011, flights by the carrier to and from Damascus and Aleppo were cancelled amid Syria’s civil war.

The airline said that the decision to restart operations “reflects the airline’s commitment to fostering regional connectivity and supporting passenger demand” a month after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s government.

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast