Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) has indefinitely suspended its New York JFK to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion route with immediate effect. In a statement, the carrier said the decision was taken in concert with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) so as to ensure the safety and security of its customers and employees.
"Delta flight 468, a B747-400 from JFK with 273 passengers and 17 crew, diverted to Paris CDG Tuesday after reports of a rocket or associated debris near the airport in Tel Aviv," the airline said.
In addition to Delta, United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) and US Airways (Phoenix Sky Harbor) also serve Tel Aviv on a daily basis and have temporarily suspended their services following the FAA NOTAM issued. Several European carriers including Air Berlin (1991) (Berlin Tegel), Air France (AF, Paris CDG), Air Serbia (JU, Belgrade), Austrian Airlines (OS, Vienna), germanwings (4U, Cologne/Bonn), Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KL, Amsterdam Schiphol), Niki (Austria) (Vienna) and Swiss (LX, Zurich) have voluntarily suspended Tel Aviv operations for the time being but plan to resume operations as soon as possible, as early as today.
Against the backdrop of Israel's latest incursion into the Palestinian-controlled territory of Gaza, the US State Department, on Monday, issued a new travel warning for Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
According Al Jazeera, Israeli aircraft and IDF tanks have destroyed over 70 targets in the Gaza strip including five mosques, a football stadium and the home of the late leader of Hamas' military wing.
