Air India temporarily suspends Tel Aviv flights amid rising tension in West Asia

Air India operates four weekly flights between the national capital Delhi and the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

New Delhi: Rising tension in West Asia on Sunday prompted Air India to temporarily suspend its flights to Tel Aviv, just a month after resuming service to the city after a gap of about five months.

Already, Air India and Vistara, both owned by the Tata Group, had made it clear that they were using alternative flight paths for some of its flights headed to Europe.

Indians flying to Europe had to face some inconvenience, as flights took a longer route to reach their destinations. It was not only Indian carriers but foreign airlines too followed suit, either cancelling services or altering their routes to avoid Iranian airspace.

Air India officials said on Sunday that its direct flights between Delhi and Tel Aviv will be suspended for now. The carrier operates four flights between New Delhi and Tel Aviv a week.

Air India resumed the operations to Tel Aviv only on March 3 after a gap of around five months. It had suspended the services from October 7 last year following the Hamas attack on Israel.

It is not just Indian airlines but global carriers are also rerouting flights while some are cancelling flights. 

Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines have also suspended flights to and from the Iranian capital of Tehran while Qantas Airways has temporarily re-routed its services. 

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and budget carrier Scoot have stopped flying over Iranian airspace after Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory on April 13. Both the carriers have been using alternative flight paths since Saturday.

Air India had on Saturday said, "presently, our aircraft will operate on alternative flight paths to and from India, according top priority to the safety of our passengers and crew.

Vistara said, "due to the current situation affecting parts of the Middle East, we are making changes to flight-paths of some of our flights. Contingency routes, which are kept available to ensure operational continuity during such eventualities, are being used instead."

The airline warned that this may result in longer flight times on certain routes and associated delays. The situation is being monitored closely and further changes will be made if required, it added.