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FAA Extends Ban on U.S. Flights into Tel Aviv

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The FAA has extended Tuesday’s Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), which was issued shortly after a rocket landed near Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) and banned all U.S. airlines from flying into the Tel Aviv airport. The ban has been extended for an additional 24 hours and will remain in effect at least until 12:15 p.m. EDT Thursday.

Delta and United flights to TLV are suspended until further notice. US Airways reportedly plans to resume outbound services from Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) to TLV on Thursday, permitting the NOTAM is lifted in time.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) released a bulletin on Tuesday advising all European airlines to avoid TLV until further notice. Subsequently, many European carriers, including Lufthansa, Air Berlin and Air France, suspended their services to the airport. Lufthansa and Air Berlin have extended cancellations through Thursday. Lufthansa’s ruling applies to subsidiaries Germanwings, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Burssels Airlines.

Air France is suspending flights “until further notice.”

KLM, Alitalia and Scandinavian Airlines have cancelled all flights to TLV scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Despite the advisory from EASA, British Airways has yet to cancel any of their flights to TLV. “Safety and security are our highest priorities,” BA spokesman Philip Allport told Bloomberg Businessweek. “We continue to monitor the situation closely.” BA operates two flights to TLV from London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) daily.

The former New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, issued a statement on his personal website last night announcing he would fly into TLV via Israeli airline El Al. The trip, according to Bloomberg, was his way of showing “solidarity with the Israeli people and to demonstrate that it is safe to fly in and out of Israel.”

Bloomberg took to Twitter to confirm his landing at TLV shortly after 11 a.m. EDT, and told his followers that he was there “to show support for Israel’s right to defend itself.” A short time later, he posted a picture of himself and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conversing, accompanied by a short thank you to Netanyahu, “for welcoming me to Israel – Ben Gurion airport is the best protected airport in the world.”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also flew to Tel Aviv Wednesday morning on an Air Force jet. He plans to meet with Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today to discuss a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

[Photo: iStock]

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