Hundreds of United Airlines passengers booked from San Francisco to Tel Aviv endured a 13-hour “flight to nowhere” amid Hamas attack in Israel. Flight UA954 departed from the Californian city but about halfway along its journey, it made a 180-degree turn and headed back to San Francisco. The flight landed safely back, according to flightradar24.
“The safety of our customers and crews is our top priority. We are closely monitoring the situation and we are adjusting flight schedules as required,” United Airlines said, adding, “After our two departures from [Tel Aviv] scheduled for today, future operations at TLV will be suspended until conditions allow them to resume."
Ryanair flights from Continental Europe to Tel Aviv turned around in mid-air as well. The flight from Budapest was over Antalya in southern Turkey when the decision was taken to return to base, reports claimed.
Read more: Israeli intelligence last week said Hamas won't attack, ‘avoiding war’: Report
Israel’s civil aviation authority announced that no sports or leisure flights would be allowed into Israeli airspace until further notice amid the ongoing security situation. Flights from Berlin, Milan, Charleroi and Baden-Baden also turned back.
Lufthansa told news agency AFP that one flight to Frankfurt will be maintained but “all other Lufthansa flights to and from Tel Aviv have been canceled for this Saturday". Wizz Air flights from London Gatwick and Luton to Tel Aviv have been cancelled – along with the same airline’s flights from Iasi, Vienna and Vilnius to Tel Aviv.
{{/usCountry}}Lufthansa told news agency AFP that one flight to Frankfurt will be maintained but “all other Lufthansa flights to and from Tel Aviv have been canceled for this Saturday". Wizz Air flights from London Gatwick and Luton to Tel Aviv have been cancelled – along with the same airline’s flights from Iasi, Vienna and Vilnius to Tel Aviv.
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