Flight Cancellations Delta Joins Airlines Halting Services to Israel

The US airline joins a host of other airlines that have canceled or suspended flights in recent days to cities in the region including Beirut and Tehran, as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has intensified along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

“Delta flights between New York-JFK and Tel Aviv will be paused through Dec. 31, due to ongoing conflict in the region,” the airline said in a statement. Affected customers can rebook their flights through March 1, 2025.

A spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the suspension means Delta has now paused all direct flights between the United States and Israel until the end of the year.

Following the announcement, the airline’s website still showed direct flights between New York and Tel Aviv on Thursday afternoon local time (2130 GMT) with the Israeli flag carrier El Al, with a code-sharing agreement.

Fears of a major war on Israel’s northern border have increased after thousands of Hezbollah operatives’ communication devices exploded across Lebanon, killing 37 people and wounding nearly 3,000 more across two days in an attack the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel.

Airlines including Air France, Lufthansa, and Swiss temporarily suspended flights to Israel following the incident.