Passengers look at a departure board at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, on 7 October 2023, as flights are canceled because of the Hamas surprise attacks. Photo: AFP
New Zealanders wanting to leave Israel are being supported to use commercial flights, as other countries scramble to lay on repatriation flights to evacuate thousands of tourists stranded there.
Israel is continuing to pound Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas attack over the weekend which killed at least 1200 people. Gaza says more than 1000 people have now been killed in the strikes.
Governments and airlines have sought to add flights from Israel to evacuate their country's citizens, while Israeli airlines have sought to fly reservists back into Israel.
At the same time, many international airlines have suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv.
There are 245 New Zealanders registered on the SafeTravel website as being in Israel and 13 in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) spokesperson said.
In a statement, the ministry said it was in contact with those New Zealanders and had provided them with information on the international flights that continued to operate out of Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
Some New Zealanders had been able to secure seats on flights out of Israel and there was availability in the next few days, particularly as some airlines had added additional flights, it said.
The ministry said it was in close contact with its partner countries that had decided to add additional flights.
But it said the focus had been on supporting New Zealanders to use commercial flights to depart.
MFAT said it would continue to work closely with New Zealand's consular partners, including those that have indicated they would operate flights out of Israel in the coming days.
New Zealanders within the region have been encouraged to register on SafeTravel for the most up to date information. Anyone who is in the region and wanted to get out but could not was urged to contact the New Zealand 24/7 Consular Emergency Line on +64 99 20 20 20.
What other countries are doing
The US State Department said it was exploring other contract options by air, land, and sea to nearby countries. Commercial flights were available even if they were not directly to the US, it said.
Australia Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong on Wednesday announced that its government would begin "the assisted-departure of Australians affected by the situation in Israel and Gaza".
The free-of-charge Qantas flights would leave from Ben Gurion Airport starting Friday for Australians who did not already have plans to leave through commercial options, she said in a statement.
The Canadian government will soon start using two military planes to fly out citizens and permanent residents from Tel Aviv to Athens, an official said.
On Wednesday, a privately organised evacuation flight airlifted 27 passengers, mostly Canadians, from the Israeli city of Haifa to Larnaca, Cyprus, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported, citing one of the passengers. That was the first evacuation flight for Canadians in Israel, and two more privately arranged flights are planned in the next two days, the newspaper added.
The Czech Foreign Minister brought 34 Czechs back from Israel with him on his government plane, after he stopped in the country recently.
Meanwhile, Austria's plans for an evacuation of its citizens from Israel by military aircraft on Wednesday were thwarted when its only available C-130 Hercules had a technical failure, forcing the country to book seats on a commercial flight instead.
Flights suspended
British Airways said on Wednesday it would suspend all of its flights to Tel Aviv after it diverted a flight from London back to Britain due to security concerns in Israel.
Separately, Virgin Atlantic said it would halt all flights to and from Tel Aviv for the next 72 hours, citing the safety of passengers and crew.
A spokesperson for Israel's airports authority said rockets were flying around Tel Aviv at the time of the British Airways diversion, but there was no immediate threat to the flight or to Ben Gurion Airport.
She said the return to Britain was the pilot's decision and that no other flights were diverted.
Aviation authorities have cautioned airlines flying into Israel but have not grounded flights, though some experts have warned that the current airspace situation was risky due to ongoing rocket attacks.
"Safety is always our highest priority and we've taken the decision to return our Tel Aviv flight to Heathrow (Airport)," a spokesperson for British Airways said.
Since the surprise attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel on Saturday, many international airlines have suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv.
Flydubai said on Wednesday it would reduce flights to Tel Aviv from four to two per day.
With British Airways' suspension, no IAG-owned airlines are now offering flights to Tel Aviv, a spokesperson for the group said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli flag carrier El Al will operate extra flights to and from Athens, Rome, Madrid, Bucharest, New York, Paris, Larnaca and Istanbul.
The US government has been in talks with airlines encouraging them to resume flights, the State Department said Tuesday.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Wednesday the administration is "encouraging airlines both in the US and international partners to safely find ways to help support" travel between the United States and Israel."
- RNZ / Reuters
