KLM intends to resume flights to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv starting September 28. The airline stressed that it continues to closely monitor the situation in the region. “The safety of our passengers and employees always has the highest priority,” a spokesperson told ANP.
KLM previously suspended its flights to Tel Aviv due to tensions in Israel and the war in Gaza. A spokesperson told NRC that the airline believes it is possible to safely resume the route, but that might change based on “the situation at that moment.”
The spokesperson added that for safety reasons, the KLM flight will stopover in Cyprus from now on, so that the crew can disembark there and won’t have to overnight in Tel Aviv. The flight is too long to fly back and forth. So KLM will have one crew on the flight and one stationed in Cyprus. During the stopover, in which passengers will remain seated, the on-flight crew will change out with the other one. That crew will fly to Tel Aviv and then immediately back to Amsterdam.
After stopping flights to the Israeli city due to the war, KLM briefly resumed the route in May despite concerns from crew members. That’s when the Dutch airline came up with the plan to have crew members stay over in Cyprus. In the summer, the flights were suspended again.
Currently, few airlines offer direct flights to Tel Aviv.