Both Virgin Atlantic and British Airways confirmed to TTG on Wednesday afternoon (12 May) their Heathrow-Tel Aviv routes would continue subject to constant review. El Al’s flights are also operating as scheduled.
Virgin said it was "carefully monitoring events in Israel" after fresh border clashes and air strikes in and around Gaza, which have left dozens dead.
Virgin Atlantic flight VS453 is still scheduled to operate on Wednesday evening, departing Heathrow at 9.25pm and arriving 5.25am local time.
Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport is currently open to international commercial flight arrivals and departures, although diversion contingencies are in place, said Virgin.
"We, along with our local teams, are monitoring events in Israel extremely carefully and keeping our Tel Aviv flight operations under constant review," said a Virgin spokesperson.
"With health and safety our number one priority, we’re regularly assessing operations and we’ll inform our customers at the earliest opportunity if we need to make any changes to our flying schedule.
"Following a detailed risk assessment, this evening’s flight from London Heathrow to Tel Aviv remains scheduled to operate."
Virgin said any customers not wishing to travel will be able to rebook for another travel date, through to 30 April 2023, with no service fee, or convert their booking into a travel voucher.
Any customers booked to travel to Tel Aviv between now and 17 May can rebook the same flights (route and cabin) on a different date, with Virgin waiving any fare difference.
British Airways said its operations to Tel Aviv were continuing. "The safety and security of our colleagues and customers is always our top priority, and we would not operate a flight unless it was safe to do so," said a spokesperson for the airline.
BA said it was continuing to "closely monitor" the situation. Customers unable to travel, or who choose not to, can change their flights or request a voucher for future use under the carrier’s book with confidence policy.
Israeli carrier El Al, which also flies Heathrow-Tel Aviv, said it was in constant contact with security forces and the Israeli airports authority and was operating in accordance with its guidelines.
It said flights would continue to operate as scheduled, although it is recommending passengers monitor its website for updates and contact its customer service centre for any changes.
"In view of the security situation, we will allow our customers holding tickets for departures in the coming days, and are interested in changing their flight date, to do so without any change fees, or to freeze a ticket for a future date or alternative destination without handling fees," said El Al. Passengers can also cancel and receive a voucher for the full value of the ticket.
Like Virgin, El Al won’t charge price differences on changes for departure dates later in May. Flights with WiFi will allow free access to WhatsApp to allow passengers to stay in touch with family, friends and relatives.
