NEW YORK: United Airlines announced Wednesday it will resume flights to Israel next month, becoming the first US carrier to bring back flights since last fall’s suspensions with the outbreak of war in Gaza.
United plans initial flights to Tel Aviv from its New York-area hub in Newark, New Jersey on March 2 and 4, with a goal of having daily non-stop service restored from March 6.
“United conducted a detailed safety analysis in making this decision, including close work with security experts and government officials in the United States and Israel,” the US carrier said in a news release.
“United will continue to monitor the situation in Tel Aviv and adjust the schedule as warranted,” the company said.
The company hopes to bring back a second flight from Newark as soon as May, United said, adding that it would evaluate bringing back flights from San Francisco, Washington and Chicago as early as the fall.
United and US rivals Delta Air Lines and American Airlines suspended service to Israel after the October 7 attack by Hamas, which has been followed by an ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip by Israel.
A Delta spokesperson referred AFP to the company’s January 19 statement canceling flights to Tel Aviv through April 30 that said the company is “continuously monitoring the security situation” in the region.
American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other companies that have resumed service to Israel include British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and RyanAir.
United Airlines to resume flights to Israel next month
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United Airlines to resume flights to Israel next month
- United plans initial flights to Tel Aviv from its New York-area hub in Newark, New Jersey on March 2 and 4
Indonesia: Discussions with Board of Peace ‘on hold’ due to Iran war
- Indonesia’s participation on the board has drawn criticism from experts and Muslim groups at home
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s foreign minister said talks on US President Donald Trump’s Gaza “Board of Peace,” of which the Southeast Asian nation is a key troop-contributing member, were on hold due to the Middle East war.
The US and Israeli air war against Iran has killed scores of civilians, thrown global air transport into chaos and sent oil prices surging after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“All BoP discussions are on hold as all attention has shifted to the situation in Iran,” Minister Sugiono, who goes by one name, said late on Tuesday in response to a question on calls for Indonesia to exit the peace board in the aftermath of the fresh conflict in the Middle East.
“We will also consult with our friends and colleagues in the Gulf because they are also under attack,” Sugiono told reporters after attending an event alongside President Prabowo Subianto.
Indonesia’s participation on the board has drawn criticism from experts and Muslim groups at home, who say it compromises the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation’s longstanding support for the Palestinian cause.
Indonesia backs a two-state solution.
The Indonesian Ulema Council, a leading clerical body, said on March 1 that Indonesia should leave the board, citing Trump’s attack on Iran as rendering the initiative ineffective.
Meanwhile, Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, said Jakarta should use its position to press Israel and the United States to halt the violence.
Trump first proposed the board in September when he unveiled a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza, later expanding its remit to address other global conflicts typically handled by the United Nations.
Sugiono also said Prabowo is willing to be a mediator in the Iran war in a bid “to cool down and de-escalate the situation in the region.”
Indonesia is readying 1,000 troops for potential deployment in Gaza by early April as part of a proposed multinational peacekeeping force, its army said, as part of the UN-mandated International Stabilization Force. It has also been given the deputy commander role of the force.
