Wizz Air and Austrian Airlines have temporarily suspended flights to Israel, the carriers announced on Monday.
Wizz Air said it would halt its Israel-bound services on 8 and 9 June in response to the escalation involving Iran. The airline added that it currently plans to resume flights on 10 June, subject to developments. “The safety of passengers and crew remains our highest priority,” the company said, noting that it continues to monitor the situation closely in co-operation with the relevant authorities, the Hungarian news agency wrote.
Austrian Airlines, which only resumed its Israel routes last week, has also cancelled its flights scheduled for Monday. Israel has not closed its airspace following the missile attacks. At Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, international flights are continuing to arrive and depart, albeit with minor delays.
Israel’s Education Minister, Yoav Kisch, announced on Monday that schools would remain closed on Tuesday due to the missiles fired from Iran. Preparations are under way, however, for schools to reopen on Wednesday, when in-person teaching will resume in small groups.
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Iraq reopened its airspace on Monday, the country’s civil aviation body said, following Iran’s announcement that it was halting its military operations against Israel. The Civil Aviation Authority was reopening “Iraqi airspace to flights to and from all airports” and will continue to “monitor and assess the regional situation”, it said in a statement. It had announced a 72-hour closure of Iraq’s airspace on Sunday evening after Iranian missile strikes on Israel, the first since a ceasefire in the war between the US, Israel and Iran began on April 8.
Iran’s military said early Monday it was halting attacks on Israel, warning of a “crushing” response if Israeli attacks against Lebanon continued. Israel, however, has not officially announced an end to its attacks against Iran. Tensions escalated on Sunday, when Israel bombed the Lebanese capital Beirut, despite an ongoing ceasefire, prompting Iran to launch missiles at northern Israel in retaliation, with Israel launching several waves of airstrikes against Iran.
The region has been on edge since the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran in late February, triggering Iranian retaliation on Israel and other regional countries hosting US assets. A temporary ceasefire was reached on April 8, but negotiations later stalled amid disputes over its implementation and subsequent regional developments.
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