Lufthansa suspends evacuation flights from Israel

German airline Lufthansa announced that it will not operate evacuation flights from Israel to remove German citizens, this is due to the “uncertain security situation”, reports Tagesschau with reference to the carrier.

Lufthansa on October 12 and 13, according to the publication, operated four special evacuation flights from Israel. Thus, more than 1,500 German citizens returned to Germany.

“The airline will no longer operate flights of this type. Lufthansa Justified this move by the “uncertain security situation” and unresolved “issues of operational stability in Tel Aviv,” the material says.

The German Foreign Ministry has now assigned two flights from Jordan to the tourist airline Condor. They are scheduled for October 15th. Repatriation flights of civil airlines, meanwhile, are criticized by the pilots’ union Verband Cockpit (VC), writes Tagesschau. They saw “incalculable risk” in the flights, since civilian pilots are not prepared for such flights. At the same time, VC President Stefan Gerth expressed “great respect for all colleagues who agree to carry out evacuation flights.”

According to the German Foreign Ministry, more than 100,000 German citizens live in Israel, most of them with dual citizenship. There are 5,000 people on the so-called “warning list,” but it is not known whether they all want to go home.

On October 7, the Palestinian group Hamas began military operations against Israel. The militants attacked army border units, entered Israeli populated areas and took an unknown number of military and civilian hostages. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the launch of Operation Iron Swords, and the Israeli government announced that the country had entered a state of war.

After the outbreak of hostilities, flights to Tel Aviv continue to be operated by Israeli El Al, Israel Airlines and Pegasus Hava. On October 11, the Russian Red Wings decided to temporarily increase the number of flights from Israel, and Azimut, which on October 9 announced the cancellation or postponement of flights, announced their resumption on the same day. European Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Air France, EasyJet, Norwegian, Swiss, as well as American Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines have suspended flights to Israel. British Airways, Emirates, Fly Dubai, and Turkish Airlines continue to operate.