WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Major international air carriers have suspended or reined in flight services to or from Tel Aviv after a surprise operation by the Palestinian resistance factions on Israel over the weekend, saying they were waiting for safety conditions to improve.
The occupying regime’s carrier El Al was the exception, adding more flights to bring reservists back from around the world to assist in the regime’s biggest mobilization in history.
Fighters from the Palestinian resistance groups killed 700 Zionists and abducted dozens in Saturday’s attacks, the deadliest such operation in decades, prompting the occupying regime to pound the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
The occupying regime’s tourism sector is set to take a major hit as flight cancellations pile up. Tourism makes up 3.6% of total employment, according to OECD data.
Tourism bookings were 18% below pre-pandemic levels and had been rising earlier this year, according to travel data firm ForwardKeys, but took a hit on the back of political turmoil, particularly with American tourists.
Regulators including the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the occupying regime’s aviation authority urged airlines to use caution in the region’s airspace, but stopped short of suspending flights.
The regime’s civil aviation authority asked airlines to “review current security and threat information” amid the conflict, and changed some air traffic routes. It noted that delays were expected and advised airlines to carry extra fuel.
Meanwhile, the Zionist regime’s shekel fell to an almost eight-year low against the U.S. dollar on Monday as the conflict in the occupied territories escalated.
The shekel was last down more than 3% against the dollar at 3.9581, Reuters reported.