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United, Delta and USAir suspend flights to Israel - UPDATE FAA BANS US FLIGHTS, EUROPEANS FOLLOW
Israel Matzav ^ | 7/22/14 | Carl in Jerusalem

Posted on 07/22/2014 11:37:42 AM PDT by Nachum


United, Delta and USAir have suspended all flights to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport after a Hamas rocket this afternoon landed in Yahud, some 5 kilometers from the airport (Hat Tip: NY Nana). The White House says that it did not order the flights suspended, but Delta said it made its decision in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration.
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.

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.

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.

UPDATE 8:44 PM

The FAA has now banned all US airlines from flying here for the next 24 hours and Air France, KLM and Lufthansa have all said that they won't fly here either.
"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.

...

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.

The US issued a travel warning against traveling to Israel or Gaza this morning. Nevertheless, over 200 North American immigrants arrived here today.


TOPICS: Politics; Religion
KEYWORDS: faa; faasuspendsflights; hamas; israel; israelflights
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To: Star Traveler
It’s more like not wanting another “Ukraine” ...

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

61 posted on 07/22/2014 1:04:54 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
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To: Biggirl
I sense something big is going to happen in regards to cleaning out the rat’s nest called Gaza.

Almost sounds as though you support some kind of genocide against Palestinians. I know that isn't in Israel's plans.

62 posted on 07/22/2014 1:05:33 PM PDT by steve86 ( Acerbic by nature, not nurture)
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To: steve86

Carpet bomb the area, nuke it, make it glow. Whatever it takes.


63 posted on 07/22/2014 1:07:49 PM PDT by ConservativeMan55 (In America, we don't do pin pricks. But sometimes we elect them.)
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To: Right_in_Virginia
it's to prevent another passenger jet from being blown out of the sky.

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.

64 posted on 07/22/2014 1:08:25 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: steve86; Biggirl
"Almost sounds as though you support some kind of genocide against Palestinians."

Didn't read that way to me.

65 posted on 07/22/2014 1:19:08 PM PDT by Sam's Army
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To: steve86

No, get rid of the tunnels and the leadership.


66 posted on 07/22/2014 1:20:43 PM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: Biggirl

I sense something big is going to happen in regards to cleaning out the rat’s nest called Gaza.


I agree. Political Correctness has outlived its usefulness there. Our 8th airforce killed a lot of “innocents” routing the Nazis. Looks like those not involved should go somewhere, anywhere, where there are no Hamas troops or weapons. But if they don’t, they might get hurt.


67 posted on 07/22/2014 1:22:07 PM PDT by cuban leaf (The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

This just gives Bibi a window to clean house in Gaza.


It really does, doesn’t it?


68 posted on 07/22/2014 1:23:08 PM PDT by cuban leaf (The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
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To: Tzfat

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.


You are correct that “this is something different”. This is not another fizzle followed by worthless talks.

We are living in interesting times.


69 posted on 07/22/2014 1:24:24 PM PDT by cuban leaf (The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
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To: cynwoody

bump


70 posted on 07/22/2014 1:24:43 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: Political Junkie Too

I wouldn’t want to be on the team of lawyers defending an airline that did that with their passengers on board ... LOL ...


71 posted on 07/22/2014 1:24:50 PM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: ConservativeMan55

You can dream away, but I can assure you that Israel won’t be doing that.


72 posted on 07/22/2014 1:26:08 PM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Biggirl

Good, that’s what you meant.


73 posted on 07/22/2014 1:30:37 PM PDT by steve86 ( Acerbic by nature, not nurture)
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To: Sam's Army; steve86; Biggirl

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.


74 posted on 07/22/2014 1:30:46 PM PDT by Star Traveler (Remember to keep the Messiah of Israel in the One-World Government that we look forward to coming)
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To: Textide

Sad isn’t it...


75 posted on 07/22/2014 1:36:10 PM PDT by Wyatt's Torch
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To: Tzfat
Israel is a foreign nation.

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.

76 posted on 07/22/2014 1:37:11 PM PDT by SatinDoll (A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN IS BORN IN THE US OF US CITIZEN PARENTS.)
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To: SatinDoll

Strawman. What does the Liberty have to do with Israel and Gaza other than trying to make some anti-Israel point?


77 posted on 07/22/2014 2:09:48 PM PDT by Tzfat
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To: cuban leaf

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.


78 posted on 07/22/2014 2:33:07 PM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: stars & stripes forever

No. These are companies worried about their planes being hit by missiles.


79 posted on 07/22/2014 2:42:33 PM PDT by stuck_in_new_orleans
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To: stuck_in_new_orleans
No. These are companies worried about their planes being hit by missiles.

No. If that were true then they would have stopped servicing Tel Aviv many times since 2006. Rockets from Gaza have gone north of Tel Aviv and Petah Tikvah - that is NORTH of Ben Gurion Airport. Regardless, there have been ZERO SAMS fired by Hamas.

Here is what likely happened. Last week Hamas threatened Ben Gurion airport. Nothing happened with the airlines. Now Hussein Obama is getting nervous about his Muslim Brotherhood buddies, Hamas - so he sends Kerry over to Cairo to put pressure on Israel. No doubt U.S. civil aviation authorities were told to start working on plans to shut down traffic to Tel Aviv. A rocket hits 5km from Ben Gurion (not much closer than Petah Tikvah last week), and Delta diverts. The FAA quickly seizes the opportunity to forbid exercising airman certificate and airframe certification in Israeli airspace (effectively shutting down traffic from the US, in a way that they otherwise could not).

It is 100% an Obama boycott of the State of Israel.
80 posted on 07/22/2014 4:05:14 PM PDT by Tzfat
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