At the request of French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Air France operated on yesterday first “special flight» For repatriate French people stranded in Israelfollowing the suspension of service to Tel Aviv by a majority of airlines after the surprise Hamas attack.
The long haul Boeing 777-300ER came back last nightParis-Charles de Gaulle airport with on board 377 passengers (including 68 children) boarded at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. The returnees, residents of Israel and also passing tourists, were welcomed on their arrival by the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna.
Other “special flights” will be organized on Friday and Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, specifying that “vulnerable people (unaccompanied minors and pregnant women in particular), with disabilities or in medical situations presenting a particular emergency, will be given priority» upon repatriation to France. Air France confirmed the “special flight» scheduled this Friday October 13 : outbound flight AF4140 will take off from Paris-CDG at 9:10 a.m. to arrive in Tel Aviv (TLV) at 2:40 p.m.; Return flight AF4011 will leave Tel Aviv at 4:30 p.m. to return to Paris at 10:20 p.m.
Like France, a large number of European countries – Germany, Austria, Spain, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, etc. – have already organized repatriations by air or by land route via neighboring Jordan. Others – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, etc. – are preparing to do the same.
Note that the Dutch airline KLM, strategic partner of Air France, announced on Wednesday that it had withdrawn its plan for a “special flight” for repatriation, citing security reasons. As a result, the Netherlands yesterday sent a military plane to Israel to collect its nationals wishing to leave the country.
Furthermore, Turkish airlines Turkish Airlines, Pegasus and Anadolu Jet, announced Tuesday evening the suspension of their flights to and from Israel until further notice, on the fourth day of the war between Hamas and the Jewish state. They had initially maintained service to Tel Aviv after the Hamas attack on Israel on Saturday.
“ Due to the current situation in Israel, our flights are suspended until further notice », indicated on X (ex-Twitter) Yahya Üstün, one of the spokespersons for the national company Turkish airlines. The low-cost private company Pegasus announced a similar decision on X, its flights are suspended “ due to the current situation in Israel “.
Also, British Airways announced on Wednesday that it was suspending its flights to and from Tel Aviv as a security measure, on the fifth day of the conflict.
