Lufthansa and Air France suspend services to Israel
Lufthansa and Air France have suspended some services to Israel in the wake of heightened tensions within the area, following the synchronised explosion of thousands of pagers used by the Hezbollah group and further fuelling tensions between Israel and Lebanon.
Twelve people died and thousands of people were injured in an apparently co-ordinated attack across Lebanon and Syria, with a senior Lebanese security source telling Reuters that Israeli intelligence and special operations agency Mossad had planted explosives inside pagers imported by Hezbollah months prior to the detonations.
“Due to the recent changes in the security situation, the Lufthansa Group airlines have decided to suspend all connections to and from Tel Aviv and Tehran with immediate effect,” stated Lufthansa, adding that up to and including 19 September “the Israeli and Iranian airspace will also be bypassed by all Lufthansa Group Airlines”. It added it continues to monitor the situation closely and will assess the safety risk further in the coming days.
Air France has also suspended services to Beirut and Tev Aviv across the same timeline, reported AFP, with both carriers emphasising that safety of customers and crews remains imperative.
