FAA lifts ban on U.S. flights to Tel Aviv, Air Canada resumes flights
Posted July 24, 2014 11:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has lifted its ban on U.S. flights into and out of Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.
The FAA ban was lifted at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday.
“Before making this decision, the FAA worked with its U.S. government counterparts to assess the security situation in Israel and carefully reviewed both significant new information and measures the Government of Israel is taking to mitigate potential risks to civil aviation,” the FAA said in a release.
“The FAA’s primary mission and interest are the protection of people traveling on U.S. airlines. The agency will continue to closely monitor the very fluid situation around Ben Gurion Airport and will take additional actions, as necessary.”
The FAA first implemented the flight ban on Tuesday over safety concerns, and it was extended again on Wednesday.
With the ban now lifted, U.S. carriers can decide on their own if their flights will continue to fly into Israel’s main airport.
Air Canada has resumed flights to Tel Aviv with Flight AC84 leaving Toronto for Tel Aviv at 6:10 p.m. on Thursday as scheduled.
Airlines spokesperson Isabelle Arthur said the decision to resume flights to Tel Aviv is based on the airline’s “own assessment” and that of “regulators of the situation.”
She said Air Canada has also consulted others in the airline community.
The airline cancelled its flight from Toronto to Tel Aviv on Wednesday night and from Toronto to Tel Aviv on Thursday morning.
European Aviation officials had “strongly” recommended airlines stop flights to Israel.
