The Lufthansa Group has canceled all flights to Israel because of new entry regulations.
The European airline group said the decision by Israeli authorities to extend from March 6 refusal of entry to include travelers from Germany, Switzerland and Austria would lead to a considerable drop in demand.
Israel on Wednesday introduced a series of dramatic new measures against the coronavirus banning non-Israeli arrivals from Germany, Spain, France, Switzerland and Austria who were unable to home quarantine.
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“As a result, Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines will cancel all their flights to Tel Aviv and Eilat as of Sunday 8 March 2020 for the remaining winter timetable period until March 28,’’ Lufthansa said in a statement.
“The Lufthansa Group sees itself forced to make this cancellation for economic and operational reasons, as many passengers are no longer entitled to enter the country.”
Lufthansa said some flights to Tel Aviv on March 6 and 7 had already been canceled because flight crews were also affected by the entry restrictions.
The group has canceled 7100 flights in March or about 25 percent of its capacity because of the fall in demand due to the coronavirus.
It said the route cancellations and frequency adjustments correspond to a calculated capacity of 150 aircraft, of which 125 are short- and medium-haul and are 25 long-haul.
The group fleet currently comprises around 770 aircraft, including some 180 long-haul aircraft.
The focus is on domestic flights from the Frankfurt hub to Berlin, Munich and Hamburg as well as from Munich to Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Bremen and Hanover.
“These are high-frequency connections, some of which are operated up to every half hour by Lufthansa,’’ Lufthansa said. “This means that numerous rebooking options are available.”
A second focus of the route cancellations and frequency adjustments is Italy. This includes the destinations of Milan, Venice, Rome, Turin, Verona, Bologna, Ancona and Pisa.
But flights to Scandinavia, Great Britain, the Baltic States, Poland, Russia, France, Spain, Portugal and the UK are also affected.
Long-haul reductions include flights to Hong Kong and South Korea.
The airline said it would message affected customers who had provided contact details and advised others to check its website.
