Posted on 07/22/2014 11:37:42 AM PDT by Nachum
Delta said it suspended service to and from its New York JFK hub "until further notice," while the Israel Airports Authority would only confirm that the carriers had suspended flight scheduled for Monday. US Airways has not yet released a statement.There is an answer, but so far only El Al has bought into it. American Airlines (which recently merged with USAir) decided six years ago that the solution was too expensive.United announced it was also suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.
Transportation Minister called on American aviation companies to return to normal functioning, stressing that Ben-Gurion airport was safe from for take-offs and landings, and that there was no security concern for passenger planes."There is no reason for the American companies to stop their flight and give a prize to terror," he said.
Though media had reported that the US Federal Aviation Authority had ordered the cancellations, it did not issue any new guidance on flying through the region. The airline companies had acted on their own authority.
An order from the FAA could have had far greater repercussions for Israel's economy.
"As soon as the FAA gives such an order to US carriers, in most cases it's a domino effect, and most European carriers will be forced to suspend their flights," said an industry source.Regardless, the source added, "This is a huge coup for Hamas."
Tourism accounts for about 5% of Israel's exports, and has already declined as a result of the rocket fire from Gaza.
According to Channel 2, Israeli and American flight officials are reportedly trying to come to an understanding regarding the US concerns over rocket fire.
Israel contends that the Iron Dome rocket defense system, which has proven to be 90% effective during Operation Protective Edge, is also capable of intercepting projectiles in the area of Ben-Gurion Airport.
The rocket which landed in the courtyard of a home in Yehud on Tuesday, causing damage and leaving two people lightly injured, marked the first direct hit in the greater Tel Aviv area since the Gaza operation began more than two weeks ago.
"The FAA immediately notified US carriers when the agency learned of the rocket strike and informed them that the agency was finalizing a [Notice to Airmen]" prohibiting the flights.The US issued a travel warning against traveling to Israel or Gaza this morning. Nevertheless, over 200 North American immigrants arrived here today....
Delta diverted flight 468 from JFK with 273 passengers and 17 crew, Paris-Charles de Gaulle "after reports of a rocket or associated debris near the airport in Tel Aviv," and said that it was working to re-accommodate its customers.
While the FAA does not have jurisdiction over European or other international air carriers, the decision may lead to other cancellations.
"As soon as the FAA gives such an order to US carriers, in most cases it's a domino effect, and most European carriers will be forced to suspend their flights," said an industry source. "This is a huge coup for Hamas."
Air France suspended all flights to and from Israel due to "security reasons linked to the evolution of the local situation," Reuters quoted an airline spokesman as saying.
Lufthansa, Swiss Air, and KLM also suspended flights to Ben Gurion.
Or it's about legitimizing the shooting down of civilian airliners as a war tactic.
The world either flies and dares another nation to do it again under threat of extreme retaliation (think nuclear), or the world accepts the threat of airliner targeting and does nothing to stop it.
-PJ
Almost sounds as though you support some kind of genocide against Palestinians. I know that isn't in Israel's plans.
Carpet bomb the area, nuke it, make it glow. Whatever it takes.
No it's not. It's an appeal to the irrationality of the low-information types.
There is no evidence Hamas has the type of rockets that can be used to shoot down airplanes. If they did, they'd have used them against Israeli military aircraft by now. If they did have MANPADs, they'd have to infiltrate Israel to get close enough to Ben Gurion to use them. Even if they had the system the Ukrainian rebels used to shoot down MH17, flights coming from the north would be out of range from Gaza.
Didn't read that way to me.
No, get rid of the tunnels and the leadership.
I sense something big is going to happen in regards to cleaning out the rat’s nest called Gaza.
This just gives Bibi a window to clean house in Gaza.
Sheesh, stop with that crap. Do a little research on air service into Israel over the past 20 years and you will see that what goes on in Gaza and Lebanon has not interrupted air service into Tel Aviv in the past. This is something different and it has nothing to do with SAMs.
We are living in interesting times.
bump
I wouldn’t want to be on the team of lawyers defending an airline that did that with their passengers on board ... LOL ...
You can dream away, but I can assure you that Israel won’t be doing that.
Good, that’s what you meant.
If we’re talking about cleaning out Hamas and it’s operatives and their facilities, it’s not a problem and it’s completely in line with the policies and laws of Israel and how they operate.
If we’re talking about Palestinian civilians, then that is completely against the policies and laws (in their own country) that Israel abides by.
I take it to mean exclusively Hamas and the terrorist operatives and not the Palestinian civilians.
Sad isn’t it...
The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship, USS Liberty, by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats, on 8 June 1967, during the Six-Day War.[3] The combined air and sea attack killed 34 crew members (naval officers, seamen, two Marines, and one civilian), wounded 171 crew members, and severely damaged the ship.[4] At the time, the ship was in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula, about 25.5 nmi (29.3 mi; 47.2 km) northwest from the Egyptian city of Arish.
Israel's priorities are those of a foreign nation and may not coincide with those of the U.S.
Strawman. What does the Liberty have to do with Israel and Gaza other than trying to make some anti-Israel point?
Got to remember that Hamas uses non-terrorists as human shields. Even Israel does a nocking warning before they shoot any missels to get the folks out.
No. These are companies worried about their planes being hit by missiles.
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