Belavia (B2, Minsk National) will not launch its summer route from Minsk National to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion after groundhandling companies at the Israeli gateway refused to serve the sanctioned carrier.
"Based on the permission issued [on May 15], the airline began selling tickets for new flights, the first of which was scheduled for June 2. The Israeli's sudden decision to cancel the previous agreements is surprising," Chief Executive Igor Cherginets said.
Although Belavia hinted that the decision was caused by the withdrawal of the permit by the authorities, sources clarified to the Israel Hayom daily that no such ban was issued. Instead, ground handling companies at Tel Aviv airport are unwilling to risk US secondary sanctions for dealing with the state-owned Belarussian carrier.
Belavia has not been flying to Tel Aviv since February 17, 2022, due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. As the war led to the closure of airspace not only in Ukraine but also in western Russia, the airline planned to fly south albeit with a technical stop at Baku Heydar Aliev International airport in Azerbaijan. The flights would have taken around 9 hours, as opposed to around 3 hours when flown directly. Belavia planned to serve Israel 2x weekly with an E195.
Prior to the invasion, Belavia was already flying a circuitous route as it had to bypass Ukraine and the European Union. The carrier has been banned from both territories in the wake of the May 2021 state-organised forced landing of a Ryanair's B737-800 at Minsk. The detour extended the flight time to Tel Aviv to over 4 hours - more than in early 2021 but still less than half of the planned flight time via Baku.
Belavia would only be able to use its E195s on the Tel Aviv route as its two B737-300s and five B737-800s are currently designated by the United States for the violation of export sanctions.
