Etihad Airways cancelled a flight between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
Flights EY595 from Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport (AUH) to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) on August 6 was cancelled. The return flight, Y596 from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi on the same day has also been cancelled.
The airline said the disruption was due to ‘operational reasons’.
In a statement to Khaleej Times the airline said, “Etihad Airways cancelled one of its two flights a day between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv for operational reasons on August 6, 2024.”
“Customers booked on the EY 595/596 are being contacted and re-accommodated on the other daytime service between Abu Dhabi (AUH) and Tel Aviv the EY 593/594.”
The Abu Dhabi-based airline said that it has merged the two flights to Tel Aviv into one. So, all passengers with bookings will be accommodated accordingly.
Etihad also said that the “safety of our guests and crew is our number one priority and we regret any inconvenience caused by these cancellations.”
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This comes at a time where regional tensions have been heightening between Israel and Hezbollah, as many airlines started avoiding Iranian and Lebanese airspace and cancelling flights to Israel and Lebanon, as concerns grow over a possible conflict in the region after the killing of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah.
Emirates’ flights to Tel Aviv remain suspended since November 2023. The airline had cancelled all its flights to the region amid escalating tensions between Israel and Gaza at the time.
The airline had stated that customers with onward connections to Tel Aviv on Emirates flights “would not be accepted for travel at their point of origin until further notice”.