Airlines suspended flight to Israel

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Foreign airlines have suspended flights to Israel following the continued rocket attacks from Gaza.

The first to stop was Korean and on July 22 after debris from an intercepted rocket fell some km from Ben Gurion international airport other airlines joined.

First were the American airlines – United, Delta, American Airlines  and US Airways. They claimed that the FAA ordered the temporary suspension.

Hours later, Lufthansa has suspended its flightS together with Austrian and Swiss, KLM and Air France.

The Israeli air force is under heavy pressure to agree to designate its Nevatim airbase as an alternate for Ben-Gurion airport near Tel-Aviv.

The local representatives of the airlines asked to use the Israeli air base in Uvda as an alternative airport but the conditions there cannot sustain the number of flight that will be diverted .This not even for a short period.

The Israeli civil aviation authority (CAA) a few years ago declared that the Uvda airbase near Eilat in southern Israel can no longer be used as an alternate. This because of a narrow runway and the lack of an ILS.

A source in the ministry of transport told I-HLS that there have been   discussions with the air force in an attempt to make the Nevatim airbase an alternate; at least until the new International airport of Eilat is built. “These attempts failed”