Air Canada on Tuesday cancelled its regularly scheduled flight to Israel following the lead of U.S. airlines which suspended flights to Tel Aviv for 24 hours after the U.S. Federal Aviation Adminstration issued a temporary ban. Tour operatiors are also preparing contingencies if the grounding continues.
"Tonight’s scheduled Tel Aviv flight AC84 [from Toronto to Tel Aviv] has been cancelled," Air Canada spokesperson Isabelle Arthur told The CJN via email on July 22. "We will continue to evaluate the situation going forward, and provide updates as needed."
Air Canada’s Flight 85 departed Tel Aviv on Tuesday at about 2 p.m. local time and was scheduled to arrive in Toronto late Tuesday afternoon.
The return Flight 84 – now cancelled – was to depart at 6:10 p.m.
El Al has no plans to cancel flights to Israel from Toronto, it’s sole point of origin from Canada. “We are not canelling any flights,” a spokesperson said emphatically.
So far, Transport Canada has not followed the FAA's lead in imposing a ban on flights.
Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said in a statement that he understands that Air Canada has an obligation to take all necessary measures."The fact that international airlines are forced to cancel flights to Tel Aviv underscores the threat that Israelis are facing on a daily basis. By targeting airports, Hamas is proving once again that it is not only a danger to Israel but to the entire world. As Canadians, we must consider what we would do if our cities and towns faced a barrage of missiles every day and our airports were no longer considered safe for travel.”
United, U.S. Airways and Delta Airlines cancelled their flights to Tel Aviv after a rocket fired from Gaza struck near the Israeli airport.
The rocket that struck Yehud on Tuesday, less than six miles from Ben-Gurion International Airport, landed between two houses and caused extensive damage to them, according to the police as quoted in the New York Times.
Air France, Dutch flag carrier KLM, and German flag carrier Lufthansa also said they were suspending their flights to Tel Aviv.
Korean Air suspended its flights to Tel Aviv last week.
Last week a Malaysian Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was downed by a missile over the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard.
Meanwhile local tour organizers are expecting that the FAA decision not to allow U.S. carriers to fly into Tel Aviv will be a temporary measure.
At Authentic Israel, a tour operator which currently has hundreds of travellers in Israel, they are “preparing contingencies” for trips departing Israel on Sunday July 27 while expecting the flight ban to be short-lived, said managing director Avi Green.
Ironically rocket fire has diminished in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv over the last week and tours have had more freedom to travel in the country, Green said.
Green, who has been in the travel business for 14 years, says he has never seen this type of move in Israel before. “There are a lot of sensitivities following the Malaysia flight,” he said.
NCSY, the youth movement of the Orthodox Union, is not affected by the FAA alert, because the youth group uses El Al, Israel’s national airline, exclusively, said Mayer Fertig, chief communication officer of the Orthodox Union.
One youth trip to Israel was cancelled earlier in the summer, because it was logistically impossible to find accommodation in the north of Israel, away from rocket fire, he said.
Youth trips offered by the Conservative movement are not leaving Israel until early August, and are unlikely to be affected, said Rabbi Steven Wernick, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s CEO. “This is a very serious circumstance but what the airlines have told us … everyone expects this to be temporary.”
Rabbi Wernick was in Israel last week and visited with youth participants and said the teenagers have gained a much deeper understanding of Israeli life. “They understand they are participants in history, and not just observers.”
Representatives for Birthright Israel, one of the largest tour organizers for youth, could not be reached by The CJN’s deadline. In an email, a spokesperson said “we will co-ordinate alternative flights if needed.”
–with files from Lila Sarick and JTA