Airlines suspend Israel flights over ongoing rocket fire in Tel Aviv

Ongoing rocket fire has divereted international flight LY332 over Israel. Photo / Twitter; Flight Radar 24

International carriers have cancelled flights into Israel's airports amid ongoing exchanges of rocked fire from Gaza.

Cancellations mounted at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa and Iberia airlines grounded their services out of an abundance of caution.

"The safety and security of our colleagues and customers is always our top priority, and we continue to monitor the situation closely," British Airways said in a statement.

Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza, and Palestinian militants in Gaza fired rockets at targets in Israel, including the main airport in Tel Aviv.

Some flights have been rerouted to Ramon Airport in Eilat, 200km south, according to Reuters.

Yesterday, El AL flight LY332 Brussels was safely diverted to Ramon, "after an hour of waiting circles in the air".

Footage picked up by Israel's Public Broadcaster Kan, reported to show rocket fire and Iron Dome interception fire seen from the wing of the plane.

מטורף: רקטות שנורו מעזה צולמו מטיסת אל על LY332 רגע לפני הנחיתה מבריסל בישראל. לאחר שעה של מעגלי המתנה באוויר המטוס נחת בשלום pic.twitter.com/xLdXkCzJqL

— איתי בלומנטל Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) May 12, 2021

The southern airport in Eilat was designed to serve as a wartime alternative to take diverted air traffic from Tel Aviv, said Avi Scharf an aviation reporter for Israel's Haaretz newspaper.

Scharf said that the Eilat airport itself has been targeted by inbound rockets, but was out of range of Gaza.

Ben Gurion remains open to cargo flights.

Israeli army says surprised by Gaza rocket launched at Eilat airport, that had a range of over 200 km. Earlier thought to have had rockets with max range of 160 km.

The rocket eventually fell somewhere in the middle https://t.co/8xOA6vgyZk https://t.co/xubBA0pWxD

— avi scharf (@avischarf) May 13, 2021

Three US-based airlines American, United and Delta also suspended flights to Israel yesterday amid rising violence in the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.

United Airlines canceled flights from Chicago, Newark and San Francisco through Saturday. A spokeswoman said United will let customers booked on Tel Aviv flights through May 25 change their itineraries without paying a higher fare.

American Airlines canceled its daily flight from New York to Tel Aviv on Wednesday and Thursday and offered to put passengers on flights at later dates, according to an airline spokesman. Delta canceled flights from New York to Tel Aviv through Thursday.

Company representatives said the airlines were monitoring the situation for when they might resume the flights.

- Associated Press with additional reporting