British Airways announced on the weekend that it was extending the period of suspending its Israeli flights until the end of July. This step will largely add to the summer season that flourishes on the famous Tel Avivon Lundon road, which also requires connecting flights on British Airways from London.
Thus, British Airways joined other airlines that announced the cancellation of extended flights, including Air Canada, which planned to return to Israel at the beginning of June, but now surrendered in the summer season, and Easyjet, which translated its resumption of service by another month and will not now return before the beginning of July.
Fear is that British Airways will continue to expand the scope of suspending its flights and will give up the late summer season as well. Meanwhile, there are airlines that announce short -term comments, update per week, the most important of which are United Airlines, the Lufthansa Group, and Rayyrere, which extended cancels for a few weeks.
Each airline has a set of its own considerations. Airlines that run long -term flights to Israel, such as from New York or London, must put the crew in Israel overnight, because the total period of external flights and return exceeds the number of airlines allowed under international regulations. In the case of short flights, the same crew can sometimes monitor their external legs and return the legs, without the need to establish a night in the middle. This consideration makes long -term flights more complicated and expensive to work, especially when survival overnight in Israel, which involves a security threat.
In the past, British Airways will overcome the problem by stopping in Larnaca to change the crews. Likewise, United Airlines stopped in Munich for the same purpose in the winter of 2024. This type of solution makes it possible to avoid stays overnight in Israel and continue to fly, but it adds to the cost and duration of flights, and thus lasted only a few months.
British Airways is one of the largest and oldest airlines in the world. It is part of the British Spanish Airways group, which was formed in 2011 by combining it with Iberia. The group also includes Vueling and Aer Lingus. So it can also be expected to extend to the suspension of Israeli flights. To date, he canceled flights until the beginning of June. Since 2020, Qatar Airways has been the largest shareholder in Iag, with a 26 % stake.
The extension of cancellation operations by British Airways is vulnerable to influencing smaller airlines, which do not have risk management capabilities in the main transport companies. If a company like British Airways needs a complete system to deal with a problematic road like the road to Israel, for small airlines that rely on efficiency and dates of adherence to dates, any additional deviation or risk is vulnerable to making the entire path unstable. The cancellation by the main airlines creates an atmosphere of instability, undermines the feeling of the security of other companies, and makes it difficult to return to the routine. The aviation industry, like other industries, is sensitive to the herd mentality, and the decision of one player, especially if it is a big and important player, generates a serial reaction from among others, even if they do not have the same justification. When a flight like British Airways announces the extension of the cancellation, the other immediately evaluates the risk.
British Airways has received concessions, and it is now canceled
British Airways and Ranner are among the foreign airlines that have publicly pressed an amendment to the Air Services Law in Israel, a law designed to protect passenger rights in case of delaying or canceling the flight. The law, which was approved in a normal period, represents a major challenge for both Israeli and foreign airlines in wartime, because they need to pay compensation and hotel expenses for travelers even when the trip is canceled for security reasons. Both airlines for flying cancels to Israel have several times since the missile launched from Yemen near Ben Gurion landed on May 4, and it did not resume operations even though the important airlines such as Delta did so.
In the discussion of the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee during the year 2024 until the amendment of the law in February, British Airways has emerged in its efforts to reduce the economic risks of flights to Israel in wartime, and expressed its willingness to resume flight if foreign Airlines receive relaxation in the law in accordance with the law. Even Ryanair revealed the amount of compensation that was forced to pay the passengers due to the situation, and its estimate of 4 million euros. Foreign and Israeli Airlines argued that amending the law in a way that reduces the obligations to airlines even at the expense of some harm to consumers that would help them restore them to the activity in Israel.
The amendment approved by the Minister of Transport, with the approval of the Economic Affairs Committee, allows the suspension of some consumer rights in the event of an emergency: an exemption from paying compensation, restricting the paid hotel into two nights, shortening the minimum notification period to cancel the trip from fourteen days, and the possibility to provide an alternative trip that is not at the forefront. This relaxation is valid for up to sixty days at a time, but only if a “special position” is announced.
Despite the fact that British Airways and Raynaire received almost everything they requested, they are still not rushing to Israel. Their hesitation is partially explained by the fact that the Minister of Transport has not yet announced the “special situation”, and therefore relaxation did not come into effect. On the other hand, the fact that the law has been amended creates a legal precedent that can be required by airlines in defending future allegations by passengers even if a special situation is not announced, and harms passengers to claim compensation when canceling their flights.
It was published by Globes, Israel Business News – En.globes.co.il – on May 25, 2025.
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