British Airways suspends flights to Israel

British Airways has suspended flights to Israel after turning back one of its planes shortly before landing due to security concerns.

The Airbus A350 had flown almost all of its 2,233-mile route to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport before turning around.

A spokesperson for British Airways said: “Safety is always our highest priority and following the latest assessment of the situation we’re suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv.

“We’re contacting customers booked to travel to or from Tel Aviv to apologise for the inconvenience and offer options including a full refund and re-booking with another airline or with British Airways at a later date. We continue to monitor the situation in the region closely.”

Israel’s airports authority said rockets were flying around Tel Aviv at the time but there was no immediate security threat at the airport.

Many international airlines have suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv since the attack by Hamas on Israel at the weekend. Virgin Atlantic and El Al continue to operate on the Heathrow-Tel Aviv route.

BA has now suspended flights on the route until further notice.