Lufthansa Group announces resumption of Israel flights

The Lufthansa Group, which includes Lufthansa Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines and Eurowings, announced that it will resume flights to and from Israel starting September 5, after a hiatus of more than a month. The group operates several flights to various destinations in Europe.

Following the deadly rocket attack on Majdal Shams on July 27, which killed 12 children and teenagers in the Golan Heights town, international airlines, fearing Israeli retaliation, began canceling flights to Israel. Lufthansa Group was the first to announce the changes, initially canceling flights to Israel from Frankfurt and Munich, and from Israel to Frankfurt. The cancellations were then gradually extended to full days, over a period of more than a month. Other airlines that followed suit included United Airlines, Delta, Ryanair and EasyJet, which have yet to resume service.

The Lufthansa Group has also cancelled flights to other destinations in the region, including Beirut, Tehran, Amman and Erbil. Flights to Beirut are currently scheduled to remain suspended until September 30. Flights to Amman and Erbil resumed on August 27. Regarding flights to and from Tel Aviv, Lufthansa said it was still unknown whether the group would return to its pre-cancellation range.

The Lufthansa Group is Europe’s largest airline group and belongs to the Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline alliance. Like other international airlines, the group suspended flights to Israel after October 7, but was among the first to resume them in January 2024. Except for a brief pause following Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel on April 13, the group’s airlines continued to fly to Israel until the latest suspension.

This article was published in Globes, Israeli Business News – en.globes.co.il – on September 3, 2024.

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