Targeted boycott? Despite return of some airlines, flight suspensions continue to trouble Israeli travelers

Rep. Ritchie Torres demands US airlines to resume flights to Israel

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Israel is currently facing its second major flight suspension crisis in less than a year, triggered by Iranian threats of retaliation for Israel's alleged assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran's capital, in July.

Beginning in August, dozens of airlines suspended their connections to Israel, citing fears of a regional escalation following the Iranian threats.

Despite the relative calm over the past month, many airlines have maintained their suspensions. United Airlines has extended its suspension indefinitely, while American Airlines a blanket cancellation until March 2025.

Delta Airlines has canceled flights until Sept. 30 but will continue to operate under an El Al codeshare. This means that, at the moment, only Israel’s flagship airline El Al is flying directly between the United States and Israel.

Over the past week, several airlines announced they will resume their flights, as Iranian threats have so far not materialized.

The Lufthansa Group, including Swiss, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings, resumed its flights to Israel on Sept. 5.

In addition, carriers such as Air France, Aegean, Bulgaria Air, Wizz Air, Air Europa, TAROM, FlyDubai, Etihad Airways, ITA Airways, LOT Polish Airlines, and Ethiopian Airlines, have resumed operations, according to Israel Hayom’s guide to airline cancellations.

Croatia Airlines, Vueling and Air Baltic have so far not announced a return date for their flight services to Israel.

Air India will only resume flights on Oct. 24 and the Irish airline Ryanair has canceled flights until Oct. 26.

The second round of widespread flight cancellations, after the original first round immediately following Oct. 7, has raised eyebrows, as conditions on the ground remain unchanged. The cancellations were triggered solely by Iranian threats.

“One of the things that Iran is trying to accomplish is to isolate Israel economically. This is just another sign of that,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Jewish Insider.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), a strong supporter of Israel, addressed U.S. airline companies directly, urging them to reconsider their flight suspensions “to prevent the appearance and the substance of discrimination against the Jewish State.”

In a letter to the CEOs of American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines, Torres wrote: “Airlines should be prohibited from effectively boycotting or otherwise discriminating against the world’s only Jewish State.”

“It is one thing to temporarily suspend air travel to Israel on security grounds as defined by the FAA. But to unilaterally suspend air travel indefinitely until mid-2025, as American Airlines has done, has the practical effect of a boycott,” he wrote.

“Given the arbitrary length of the suspension, one could be forgiven for thinking that the BDS movement had taken over the American aviation industry without anyone noticing, much less crying foul.”

“By what logic and in what universe is it safe for El Al to travel to Israel but too dangerous for American Airlines, Delta, and United to do so? It is worth noting that UAE airlines like Etihad, FlyDubai, and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi continue to fly to Israel without incident,” Torres asked.

“There is no transparency or reasoning behind the mass cancellations,” wrote Seth Frantzman, Adjunct Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“The fact that Iran decides to threaten Israel should not become the new norm for travel chaos in Israel. The fact that Hamas chose to begin a genocidal war on Israel was not a good reason for international carriers to punish Israel for the crimes of Hamas.”