FAQ : BA services to TLV, Israel
Jun 11, 2025 | 12:43 am
#466
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Leeds
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond, BD Blue (RIP)
Posts: 2,987
HI so pleased to find this site and hoping someone can help. (Posted as add on to another thread in error so now started my own!)
Was due to fly back BA from TLV to London on 7th May. Received email on 6th saying flight cancelled and could rebook or get refund and wirh a helpline number to call. Called the number (call centre in India) offered their first available flight on 13th - so 6 days later! Woman said we'd get all expenses refunded and listed them..accommodation, food, taxi fares etc. Said she'd never heard of El Al when i asked if she could try them for an earlier flight! We accepted this flight as no other option seemed available. A few hours later on the same day i received another email saying that flight had also been cancelled. Same advice re could rebook or get refund. Same helpline number to call. Called the next morning to be told no flights leaving TLV until further notice.and couldn't advice when flights would resume. Offered flights next day from Larnica but with no help/advice on how to get to Larnica! Refused this option as no El Al flights available next day to Larnica and couldn't risk other carriers also cancelling e.g. Wizz Air etc (they did indeed cancel all flights from TLV so just as well!) Managed to book ourselves with El Al to return to London on 13th May. BA have rejected our claim for flights, accommodation...the lot! The rejection email was one line saying they were rejecting on the grounds of "the ongoing Gaza/Israel situation". (Actually this was incorrect anyway - it was the Houthis terrorist attack on the airport). It says on their T/Cs that you aren't covered for "political instability". But can they just outright refuse to take any responsibility or duty of care? I understood this to mean the compensation part - not the refund of new flights and (modest) accommodation etc. Can anyone advise if we are just being fobbed off and we do indeed have a claim for legitimate expenses.
Was due to fly back BA from TLV to London on 7th May. Received email on 6th saying flight cancelled and could rebook or get refund and wirh a helpline number to call. Called the number (call centre in India) offered their first available flight on 13th - so 6 days later! Woman said we'd get all expenses refunded and listed them..accommodation, food, taxi fares etc. Said she'd never heard of El Al when i asked if she could try them for an earlier flight! We accepted this flight as no other option seemed available. A few hours later on the same day i received another email saying that flight had also been cancelled. Same advice re could rebook or get refund. Same helpline number to call. Called the next morning to be told no flights leaving TLV until further notice.and couldn't advice when flights would resume. Offered flights next day from Larnica but with no help/advice on how to get to Larnica! Refused this option as no El Al flights available next day to Larnica and couldn't risk other carriers also cancelling e.g. Wizz Air etc (they did indeed cancel all flights from TLV so just as well!) Managed to book ourselves with El Al to return to London on 13th May. BA have rejected our claim for flights, accommodation...the lot! The rejection email was one line saying they were rejecting on the grounds of "the ongoing Gaza/Israel situation". (Actually this was incorrect anyway - it was the Houthis terrorist attack on the airport). It says on their T/Cs that you aren't covered for "political instability". But can they just outright refuse to take any responsibility or duty of care? I understood this to mean the compensation part - not the refund of new flights and (modest) accommodation etc. Can anyone advise if we are just being fobbed off and we do indeed have a claim for legitimate expenses.
The big question is - did you take a refund from BA for the TLV flights? If you did, then in theory, they're in the right as their obligation to sort you out ends when you accept a refund. However, there may be a case that the advice you were given on your first call was so poor that they should be on the hook for something as you only took the refund due to duff information - BA, as much as they don't like admitting it, has a responsibility to get you where you want to go in these situations.
If you were not refunded, write again and get them to reply saying they won't change their mind, then take the case to the CEDR. If you were refunded, it may be a trickier situation and I'd get BA to pull the tape of your first call and have a listen.
Jun 11, 2025 | 12:53 am
#467
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 13,886
If you didn't ask for or accepted a refund of the BA ticket, BA has a duty of care in this situation regardless if caused entirely outside BA control or not due to a BA fault. When BA refused to rebook you are entitled to rembursement of the El Al ticket and the add night accommodation caused by the rebooking to El Al the following day.
I suspect that BA is rejecting your claim for reimbursement if/when you are claiming for hotel/accommodation expenses for 6 nights which could appear as if you took an add. week of holiday on the dime of BA (just explaining how it could appear to the agent reviewing your claim)
If you received a refund, you do not have any right to reimbursement of expenses incurred or the El Al ticket, as the obligation to get you to your final destination ceased the moment the BA ticket was refunded.
I suspect that BA is rejecting your claim for reimbursement if/when you are claiming for hotel/accommodation expenses for 6 nights which could appear as if you took an add. week of holiday on the dime of BA (just explaining how it could appear to the agent reviewing your claim)
If you received a refund, you do not have any right to reimbursement of expenses incurred or the El Al ticket, as the obligation to get you to your final destination ceased the moment the BA ticket was refunded.
Jun 11, 2025 | 3:10 am
#468
Join Date: Jun 2025
Posts: 4
Okay - a number of things seem to have happened here.
The big question is - did you take a refund from BA for the TLV flights? If you did, then in theory, they're in the right as their obligation to sort you out ends when you accept a refund. However, there may be a case that the advice you were given on your first call was so poor that they should be on the hook for something as you only took the refund due to duff information - BA, as much as they don't like admitting it, has a responsibility to get you where you want to go in these situations.
If you were not refunded, write again and get them to reply saying they won't change their mind, then take the case to the CEDR. If you were refunded, it may be a trickier situation and I'd get BA to pull the tape of your first call and have a listen.
The big question is - did you take a refund from BA for the TLV flights? If you did, then in theory, they're in the right as their obligation to sort you out ends when you accept a refund. However, there may be a case that the advice you were given on your first call was so poor that they should be on the hook for something as you only took the refund due to duff information - BA, as much as they don't like admitting it, has a responsibility to get you where you want to go in these situations.
If you were not refunded, write again and get them to reply saying they won't change their mind, then take the case to the CEDR. If you were refunded, it may be a trickier situation and I'd get BA to pull the tape of your first call and have a listen.
Jun 11, 2025 | 3:15 am
#469
Join Date: Jun 2025
Posts: 4
If you didn't ask for or accepted a refund of the BA ticket, BA has a duty of care in this situation regardless if caused entirely outside BA control or not due to a BA fault. When BA refused to rebook you are entitled to rembursement of the El Al ticket and the add night accommodation caused by the rebooking to El Al the following day.
I suspect that BA is rejecting your claim for reimbursement if/when you are claiming for hotel/accommodation expenses for 6 nights which could appear as if you took an add. week of holiday on the dime of BA (just explaining how it could appear to the agent reviewing your claim)
If you received a refund, you do not have any right to reimbursement of expenses incurred or the El Al ticket, as the obligation to get you to your final destination ceased the moment the BA ticket was refunded.
I suspect that BA is rejecting your claim for reimbursement if/when you are claiming for hotel/accommodation expenses for 6 nights which could appear as if you took an add. week of holiday on the dime of BA (just explaining how it could appear to the agent reviewing your claim)
If you received a refund, you do not have any right to reimbursement of expenses incurred or the El Al ticket, as the obligation to get you to your final destination ceased the moment the BA ticket was refunded.
Jun 11, 2025 | 5:37 am
#471
Moderator: Iberia Club, Airport Lounges and Ambassador: The British Airways Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 70,825
In your case, firstly welcome to Flyertalk, and it would have been better to raise it here as soon as you hit the problem. But even so, in the absence of details, that your claim is rather large, and that probably it's not been processed correctly under APR. See the EC261 / APR thread for more information on that. By all means make a new claim, or ask that it be reviewed by an APR specialist, but (without knowing more) it may be best to get this down the CEDR route as soon as BA has confirmed that their answer will not change.
Jun 12, 2025 | 7:58 pm
#472
Join Date: May 2025
Programs: Ba
Posts: 17
BA cancelled and Rebooked me TLV-MAD-LHR. Now TLV closed
Hi All,
I was due to fly back BA to LHR on the 16 Jul. BA cancelled and rebooked us on LY to Madrid, overnight Madrid and then BA to LHR.
Now, as I write, Israel airspace is closed. All EL AL aircraft are all over the place but not in Israel. EL AL website says all operations are now suspended.
No way BA can redirect us, so what should I do? Shall I call BA to reschedule now, wait till Monday and see. Definitely not to except a refund. Any ideas?
thanks
I was due to fly back BA to LHR on the 16 Jul. BA cancelled and rebooked us on LY to Madrid, overnight Madrid and then BA to LHR.
Now, as I write, Israel airspace is closed. All EL AL aircraft are all over the place but not in Israel. EL AL website says all operations are now suspended.
No way BA can redirect us, so what should I do? Shall I call BA to reschedule now, wait till Monday and see. Definitely not to except a refund. Any ideas?
thanks
Jun 13, 2025 | 1:15 am
#473
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,104
Hi All,
I was due to fly back BA to LHR on the 16 Jul. BA cancelled and rebooked us on LY to Madrid, overnight Madrid and then BA to LHR.
Now, as I write, Israel airspace is closed. All EL AL aircraft are all over the place but not in Israel. EL AL website says all operations are now suspended.
No way BA can redirect us, so what should I do? Shall I call BA to reschedule now, wait till Monday and see. Definitely not to except a refund. Any ideas?
thanks
I was due to fly back BA to LHR on the 16 Jul. BA cancelled and rebooked us on LY to Madrid, overnight Madrid and then BA to LHR.
Now, as I write, Israel airspace is closed. All EL AL aircraft are all over the place but not in Israel. EL AL website says all operations are now suspended.
No way BA can redirect us, so what should I do? Shall I call BA to reschedule now, wait till Monday and see. Definitely not to except a refund. Any ideas?
thanks
Jun 13, 2025 | 2:05 am
#475
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: LHR, LGW
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 4,273
Hi All,
I was due to fly back BA to LHR on the 16 Jul. BA cancelled and rebooked us on LY to Madrid, overnight Madrid and then BA to LHR.
Now, as I write, Israel airspace is closed. All EL AL aircraft are all over the place but not in Israel. EL AL website says all operations are now suspended.
No way BA can redirect us, so what should I do? Shall I call BA to reschedule now, wait till Monday and see. Definitely not to except a refund. Any ideas?
thanks
I was due to fly back BA to LHR on the 16 Jul. BA cancelled and rebooked us on LY to Madrid, overnight Madrid and then BA to LHR.
Now, as I write, Israel airspace is closed. All EL AL aircraft are all over the place but not in Israel. EL AL website says all operations are now suspended.
No way BA can redirect us, so what should I do? Shall I call BA to reschedule now, wait till Monday and see. Definitely not to except a refund. Any ideas?
thanks
Jun 13, 2025 | 3:25 am
#476
Moderator: Iberia Club, Airport Lounges and Ambassador: The British Airways Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 70,825
Now, as I write, Israel airspace is closed. All EL AL aircraft are all over the place but not in Israel. EL AL website says all operations are now suspended.
No way BA can redirect us, so what should I do? Shall I call BA to reschedule now, wait till Monday and see. Definitely not to except a refund. Any ideas?
No way BA can redirect us, so what should I do? Shall I call BA to reschedule now, wait till Monday and see. Definitely not to except a refund. Any ideas?
1) Don't rush this, or accept the first option suggested to you.
2) Don't accept a refund unless you are totally and utterly certain you understand the implications
3) Be guided mostly by what you want to achieve, bearing in mind the difficult security situation.
If your ticket was originally issued by BA then they can retrieve the El Al coupons and rebook you. Alternatively, if you were within 24 hours of departure at the time of cancellation El Al should be able to do it, but because they can't control the coupon so well it may not work without BA intervention.
Jun 13, 2025 | 3:37 am
#477
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 139
I am due to fly TLV-LHR on Tues 17th June on El Al (rebooked from BA)
I appreciate the situation is an evolving one.
If flights remain suspended, is there any duty of care or is this a (legitimate) we cant control the airspace situation?
Im hopeful flights will resume soon but who knows, my main concern is not being stuck here (and secondary, accommodation costs)
I accept travelling to an area in conflict is a risk that I have chosen to take, just genuinely curious if anyone has been in similar situation before and best thing to do about it. (I also assume my travel insurance wont want anything to do with it but would need to check)
I appreciate the situation is an evolving one.
If flights remain suspended, is there any duty of care or is this a (legitimate) we cant control the airspace situation?
Im hopeful flights will resume soon but who knows, my main concern is not being stuck here (and secondary, accommodation costs)
I accept travelling to an area in conflict is a risk that I have chosen to take, just genuinely curious if anyone has been in similar situation before and best thing to do about it. (I also assume my travel insurance wont want anything to do with it but would need to check)
Jun 13, 2025 | 3:54 am
#478
Moderator: Iberia Club, Airport Lounges and Ambassador: The British Airways Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 70,825
So long as you do not refund your ticket, Right to Care continues under APR / EC261. However if you are on an El Al booking and therefore El Al are the operating airline, their policies may well be different to BA, plus they will probably default to Israel's own version of EC261, namely the Israeli Aviation Services Law, plus their fairly rich canon of consumer laws. I am not an expert on this area, however the Right to Care section of the IASL is nearly identical to EC261 / APR and does not have a force majeure over-ride.
Jun 13, 2025 | 9:37 am
#480
Join Date: May 2025
Programs: Ba
Posts: 17
BA do not know TLV is closed, so can not help
Just been chatting with BA and they are not aware of TLV being closed and so are not aware that BA passengers on ElAl flights cannot get to London or can not get to their intermediate destination on LY to connect to BA to London.
however was told not to worry and everything will be sorted!!!! Hope so
however was told not to worry and everything will be sorted!!!! Hope so