Austrian Airlines (AUA) will resume flights to the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv on August 1. The Lufthansa subsidiary announced this decision following a “thorough security assessment.”
Austrian Airlines will resume its flights to the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv on August 1st. / Picture: © Austrian Airlines / Flickr Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The entire Lufthansa Group had already announced its intention to resume flights to Tel Aviv on this date. A company spokesperson had pointed out at the beginning of the month that the security situation in the Middle East region would continue to be closely monitored.
Flights to Israel had been suspended at the beginning of May after a rocket fired by Islamist Houthi rebels from Yemen struck near Ben Gurion Airport. Other destinations in the Middle East were also temporarily suspended following the escalation of the Gaza war and Israeli attacks on Iran. AUA flights to the Iranian capital, Tehran, will remain suspended until at least September 30.
Although some airlines, such as El Al (Israel’s national airline), have largely maintained their flights, many international airlines, including Swiss, Eurowings, Ryanair, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, British Airways, easyJet, and Air Canada, have continued to suspend their flights to Tel Aviv or have postponed their resumption several times, in some cases until the end of October 2025. This caution reflects the ongoing security situation in the region, which is also marked by difficult negotiations over a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the ongoing humanitarian crisis there.
Meanwhile, the situation in the region itself remains tense, as reported by ORF. Thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv for an end to the Gaza war and the release of the remaining hostages held by the Islamist Hamas. There are said to be 50 hostages still in the Gaza Strip, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip have stalled. Israel and the U.S. have withdrawn their delegations from the talks. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said that Hamas’ latest response showed that there was no will for a ceasefire.