US airlines cancel, divert Israel-bound flights as fighting rages between Israeli forces and Hamas

ByPete Muntean, CNNWire
Saturday, October 7, 2023
NYPD is increasing patrol after Saturday's deadly attack in Israel, which left hundreds dead and thousands wounded.
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US airlines are diverting and canceling flights bound for Israel's main international airport as fighting rages between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants.

United Airlines Flight 954 left San Francisco International Airport Friday night and diverted over Greenland about seven hours into the more than 13-hour-long journey, according to data from flight tracking site FlightAware. The flight is due to land back in San Francisco around 2 p.m. ET.

FlightAware shows that United has canceled a flight on the same original schedule for Saturday.

"The safety of our customers and crews is our top priority," the airline said in a statement. "We are closely monitoring the situation and we are adjusting flight schedules as required."

Delta Air Lines and American Airlines have canceled Saturday and Sunday Israel-bound flights scheduled to depart from New York's JFK, according to FlightAware.

Elsewhere, German airline Lufthansa has also drastically reduced flights to Tel Aviv.

"There will still be one flight from Tel Aviv to Frankfurt this Saturday. All other Lufthansa flights to and from Tel Aviv have been cancelled for today's Saturday," the airline said in a statement.

In all, FlightAware shows 14% of flights bound for Tel Aviv from around the world have been cancelled.

CNN's Stephanie Halasz contributed reporting to this post.