As of late September, EU Helpers states that the airline has announced that the inaugural flight between the two airports will now take place on March 14 of next year, rather than December 14 of this year as was previously planned.
Until the end of December 2023, TUI fly had earlier announced that it was temporarily stopping all of its flights to Tel Aviv from Belgium and the Netherlands, with the exception of the upcoming flights from Antwerp. However, there will now be a significant delay for the flights departing Antwerp.
Following the October 7 attack by Gaza's Hamas rulers, TUI and several other airlines operating to and from Tel Aviv have altered their flight schedules as a precaution.
Due to these circumstances, about half of the planned flights to Tel Aviv were canceled as of October 9 and did not run the day after the incident.
Consequently, a number of airlines, including Ryanair and a United Airlines Boeing 777 from San Francisco, redirected aircraft intended for Tel Aviv to Larnaca Airport in Cyprus.
Notably, a number of airlines altered their flight schedules to Tel Aviv, either by reducing or canceling their flights to Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv's international airport. These airlines included Wizz Air, Air India, Turkish Airlines, American Airlines, Air Canada, Emirates, Air France, Finnair of Finland, and TAP of Portugal.
In the meantime, Israel's aviation authority changed the routes of flight traffic, advised airlines to check security data, warned of possible delays, and advised them to carry additional fuel as a precaution.
Because of these circumstances and the continued crisis in Israel, Finnair, the largest airline in Finland, has likewise decided to cease its flights to Tel Aviv until March 2024.
EasyJet has temporarily stopped operating flights to Tel Aviv, although British Airways plans to continue operating its flights to Israel with modified departure hours.
Furthermore, all flights to Tel Aviv were canceled by other nations, including China, Hong Kong, and South Korea, underscoring the importance of safety in these unsettling times.
Travelers and airlines are keeping a careful eye on the changing conditions in the area as the scenario develops, stressing how crucial crew and passenger safety is.