Update: Air France has now suspended Israel flights from March 10th through at least March 27th.
Airlines are suspending flights to Israel in the wake of Israel announcing mandatory 2 week home quarantines for passengers who has been to Austria, France, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland.
Lufthansa Group airlines Austrian, Lufthansa, And Swiss are suspending flights to and from Eilat and Tel Aviv from March 8th through at least March 28th.
Iberia is suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv from March 10th through at least March 20th.
Alitalia is suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv from March 11th through at least March 28th.
Those dates will be extended if Israel’s quarantine requirements stay in place.
You can call your booking carrier to rebook alternate flight options or get a refund for cancelled flights.
There are still plenty of options to fly from Europe to Israel, but they are dwindling as Israel continues to add countries to their quarantine list.
How has coronavirus affected your travels?
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99 Comments On "Air France, Alitalia, Austrian, Iberia, Lufthansa, And Swiss Suspend Flights To/From Israel"
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Hi Dan,
According to SWISS’S website flights to and FROM Tel Aviv are suspended.
Please clarify
Lol, yes. If they are suspending flying to Israel, then they are also suspending flights from Israel.
Weird. Iāve got a RT flight TLV-NYC with a stopover in Austria that hasnāt been cancelled
Leaves March 24 comes back in April – so far itās intact
My flight from tlv to Zurich is not cancelled yet …
Thank you Gd. Ryan air cancelled my flight first from FCO to TLV. Norwegian just agreed to cancel both NYC to FCO and ATH to NYC. still out my Aegean air tix from TLV to ATH. relieved but wish I could be in TLV for Pesach
I was supposed to fly from tlv to jfk through fco (rome) on March 26th. That was cancelled I then booked on Swiss that was cancelled. I am now booked on United (direct for 949$ Rt). Who knows if the US is added to this list soon with the community spread in NYC
What about Swiss airline flight on March 22 from Tel Aviv to lax? If they are cancelling the flights to Israel how will this flight run? I doubt theyāll send empty planes to operate this flight
It’s cancelled.
Firsthand story: Lufthansa transferred ticketed passenger to non-stop TLV-EWR on United.
Nice!
Yudig
My son is booked on Lufthansa how did you get them to book United?
We had the same issue. We called United and since there was a possibility that our tickets would not even be valid due to the quarantine, they switched us to flight connecting from EWR, a few days before Pesach.
I was just able to do the same thing. United rebooked us on a direct flight from TLV-EWR
What about Air Serbia? Flying 4/20-29
If anything happens I’ll be sure to post.
Maybe Air Serbia will have some cancellations and book us on a Direct EWR-TLV United Flight š Imagine paying $300 for a direct flight to Israel Dreaming….
Won’t happen. They aren’t partners with United
Swiss put my uncle and cousin on elal
They aren’t partners and United has wide open on the day of travel
Business class direct from jfk
Partners won’t be the main factor
Swiss, British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France etc are comparable to legacy airlines. Comparing Air Serbia to Spirit, highly doubtful they would pay to switch passengers to a direct flight. They will just cancel and refund.
HT to tavster š
Pesach travel to Israel is going to be touch and go…
Use United points to travel to TLV via Germany/Lufthansa for Pesach. Got switched to a direct flight from EWR.
Howās LOT doing??
So far, Poland and Ukraine have one reported case each, and Serbia has none. Jordan has one, if you’re considering Royal Jordanian. Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/countries-where-coronavirus-has-spread/
@ Shaul
No, not touch and go! Basic hygiene would dictate no touch. LOL
@GOYO
You were switched to Nonstop, direct implies stopping in travel lingo.
I saw that France was also included in the quarantine list. Does this mean anyone who has a flight connecting through Paris will be quarantined for 14 days when they land in TLV? Supposed to be going for Pesach but don’t want to spend the trip in quarantine!
As for now, besides for stop overs in Italy, if you don’t leave the airport you will not have to quarantine.
But if you’re flying air France, you might wanna check if they didn’t cancel their flights to tlv
stopover without leaving the airport does not (yet) require quarantine (euro countries. china and hong kong does). But thats not the issue. AirFrance has canceeled all flights until further notice is a bigger issue.
i had the opposite a flight from israel to new york with a stopover in france and they rebooked me on delta direct for no charge at all
I have a ticket on Turkish Airlines and then another going to Israel via United
I have a flight scheduled with Iberia on March 16 (JFK – TLV) and as of 2 minutes ago my flight is still scheduled. Do you have a source for the Iberia cancellations?
if you are stopping in MAD then look it up again as it was cancelled!
Iām scheduled to fly to Israel on Lufthansa using united miles on April 5th via Frankfurt. I called United and they refused to do anything for me unless I paid $125 change fee for each ticket and any additional miles another ticket would cost. The lady on the phone said they could do nothing for me since my flight has not been canceled as of this morning. Any thoughts on what I can do.
thanks
We had the same issue, connecting to Israel via Germany. We called United and since there was a possibility that our tickets would not even be valid due to the quarantine, they switched us to flight connecting from EWR, a few days before Pesach. Perhaps try again and mention Israel’s rules about quarantine and that even though the flight is not canceled, you would not be allowed to board. I made the change yesterday morning before the post about that stated that airport transfers are not a problem for Germany.
After three tries we finally got them to allow us to switch to a direct flight from Newark leaving on April 1st with no additional charge.
thanks for your advice
when they say quarantine, what exactly does Israel mean? The government is putting you somewhere for 2 weeks (on their dime) or you are responsible to self quarantine? The 2 weeks is not joyous news but if it means a long term stay is still doable then still hoping to go.
You need to prove that you can home quarantine for 2 weeks.
Can you please elaborate or provide a link with more details?
https://i.dansdeals.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/05170818/WhatsApp-Image-2020-03-05-at-5.01.29-PM.jpeg
So if you can stay in a relative’s apartment, that will prevent spread on the virus? What if you spread it to the relative, who then goes out and about? Sounds like the Israel Ministry of Health and the TSA had the same logic professor.
Will swiss air notify us if they cancel a flight.? So far on flight status i can’t seem to find out about flight 257 on march 22 leaving tel Aviv at 1230 am to jfk? Hoping they’ll send me a message ..
Call them.
They say its not cancelled and no rebooking at this point. Lusfthansa is rebooking on united direct for free.
Iām trying to find out info on Norwegian. We are supposed to go to Croatia via gatwick. Has Norwegian commented on changes/cancelation that you have heard?
Flying Iberia March 26 from TLV to JFK. Any chance of getting them to change me?
Call and ask?
Apparently flights passed the 20th are cancelled as well. Just went to manage my booking and my flight on the 26 is canceled. Any word on what Iberia will do to rebook? flight was booked through Avios. Will update if i get more info. Trying to get through to them.
Update: Although on Iberia website it says my flight is canceled Iberia says they do not yet see that on their end and therefore won’t do anything for me.
????
My IB flight on that date was cancelled. BA rebooked me thru LHR. I got an email around 7 this morning from IB.
ask for elal
To what do you want them to switch you?
La Companie said they won’t change anything. Neither would my Hotel in Amsterdam
are flight thought germany cancelled?
Hi does anyone know my options for a canceled Iberia flight what can I ask them to switch me to…?
BA via London?
That’s only better until BA decides to suspend TLV flights
BA won’t suspend flight unless Israel forces their hand.
What date is your flight?
try asking for elal
Had a flight Wednesday March 25 via Zurich. Booked through United. Called United and got switched to direct TLV-EWR after an hour on the phone. They had no idea Swiss had cancelled the flights until I called.
ALITALIA cancelled all flights fco-tlv 11 mar – 28 mar
please add
how about lot
luftansa rebooked on united direct
Did you have to fight with them? They told me they can’t do that. What’s the trick?
They told me the same thing. Hung up and called again a bit later. The third time they did it for me. Although it’s possible that it didn’t register with their system that the flight was canceled until the third time I called.
Just try again. Doesn’t hurt.
Had a flight to EY 3/11. What are my options? Also, should I contact them or wait till they send me an email to inform me of the cancellation?
Call now.
Thanks
Will American change flights booked thru miles? My daughter has a flight on Iberian to Madrid and then on to Chicago. Please advise
Is her flight cancelled?
Not yet. It’s March 26th. Assuming it will be within the next couple days.
dan why wouldnt BA cancel like all other airlines?
Because: https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/israeli-bans-entry-visitors-5-european-countries-coronavirus-fears-will-america-next/
Called Lufthansa who said they can only cancel and refund – no re-booking on other airlines. Called United who said can offer another flight but not at the same price – only Lufthansa can honor their price. Calling back Lufthansa to push harder. Very long hold times …
Hi Dan. we have a flight back from Israel on march 25th with Iberia via MAD and so far we have not been canceled….should we consider doing anything as a backup plan. TIA
and if yes what should be the backup plan?
Dan, are you able to make a post with pointers/advice as to what a credit card’s travel insurance will and won’t cover in the context of the coronavirus situation? i.e. recovering pesach program costs if flights were cancelled versus general spike in cases in a particular location that would lead someone to want to cancel their plans and recover flight/program costs etc. Thanks.
I called chase about trip cancellation insurance and they said that Iām not covered they donāt cover epidemic
I was just told by a good friend flies Elal weekly that the CEO of ElAl just confirmed to him this week that ElAl may be out of business by Pesach, so he should make alternate plans.
Trying to find information about iberia airlines cancellations. This is the only source I saw reporting this. It isn’t on their website either. Can you please sent a link with a source to confirm?
Dates with no flights for sale are dates they will be cancelling:
https://www.google.com/flights#flt=MAD.TLV.2020-03-21;c:USD;e:1;s:0;a:IB;sd:1;t:f;tt:o
we just got a few cancelation emails…
I called united and they told me that my swiss flight (booked with united) was not cancelled. I told them to check the swiss website:)
United still says its not cancelled
Had a flight march 26 on swiss air to Chicago they rebooked on a elal direct flight to Chicago.
Have flights for Pesach through FCO but in April – so those flights not canceled yet. Debating whether to cancel the flights for a credit or maybe Alitalia will cancel April and then we can ask for full refund… Any advice appreciated.
People are asking about airlines, in respect to the Israeli health rulings. What are the health risks for being on the plane with people from all over? For joing Pesach programs with hundreds of people from all over in close quarters? I even wonder about the long lines at passport control in Ben Gurion??
Ok so they arnt cancelled just suspended and swiss and united are not rebooking them (other than the waived fees, but there is still change in price) althogh lufthansa is rebooking for free
My son and grandson have tickets from Tel Aviv to JFK in three weeks. The flight is on Aeroflot through Moscow.
Any information about Aeroflot?
going a little crazy here š I was on hold with chase ultimate rewards for over 4.5 hours this evening… my son is traveling back from yeshiva in Israel via France and it looks like his flight is not happening. but we have not received an official email clarifying that. I tried to get him on a flight directly to the USA but they could not offer me any such flight. The only flights they could give me were going through different European countries, so I told them not to change it yet, because how can I know that those countries and airlines won’t also stop flights from TLV?! Any suggestions as to what I should do, Dan? TIA
I booked with chase sapphire reserve . Alitalia march 30. what are my best options now?
Call Alitlia. I’m in yeshiva with guys who had flights via Rome with Alitalia and they were switched to Delta direct or got their money back.
Iberia has cancelled flights from TLV to MAD until the 26th of March (inclusive)
El Al is suspending flights from TLV to SFO and other locations.
We booked yesterday KLM/Delta Tel Aviv to JFK thru Amsterdam $562
That flight was Tel Aviv Amsterdam JFK with Air France/KLM/Royal Dutch Airlines $562 round trip
i have a norwegian flight from tlv to jfk with a stopover in barcelona on the 18th. Do you know anything about their policy?
What about flights through Turkey to Tel Aviv?
So i booked iberia from Tlv to Jfk via Madrid (and return flight) and they cancelled HALF of my departing trip only!? how am i supposed to get from tlv to spain to catch my flight to Ny????