Delta Air Lines is extending its suspension of flights to and from Israel amid heightening tensions in the region.
Atlanta-based Delta said last week it would pause flights between New York and Tel Aviv, Israel through Aug. 2.
On Monday, Delta extended the suspension through Aug. 31 “due to ongoing conflict in the region.”
The airline said it would notify customers affected by the schedule change through its app or contact information in customers’ reservations.
“Delta is continuously monitoring the evolving security environment and assessing our operations based on security guidance and intelligence reports and will communicate any updates as needed,” the company said. The airline said travelers can still book flights on its partner carriers Air France and El Al.
Delta initially suspended service to Israel in October at the start of the Israel-Hamas war. It restarted nonstop flights to Tel Aviv from New York on June 7.
But a rocket attack July 27 on the town of Majdal Shams that killed 12 young people in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights raised the stakes of a broader Middle Eastern conflict. Israeli and U.S. intelligence services have blamed Hezbollah in Lebanon for the attack.
On July 30, the Israeli military said it had killed Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in an airstrike in a Beirut suburb.
Then political chief of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed Wednesday after he attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president in Tehran. Israel has not claimed responsibility, but Iran threatened revenge against Israel, the Associated Press reported, and the Biden Administration has been working to avert a wider Middle Eastern conflict.
When Delta in March announced its plans to resume service, it said it had completed “an extensive security risk assessment.”
Before the suspension of service to Israel last year, Delta had operated flights to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport from Atlanta, Boston and New York. The Atlanta to Tel Aviv and Boston to Tel Aviv flights were canceled last October for “Nov. 1 and beyond,” and Delta did not announce plans to restart routes to Israel from Atlanta and Boston.
Delta extended a travel waiver for customers with flights booked to or from Tel Aviv through Sept. 6, 2024, to allow flexibility for rebookings.
The U.S. State Department has a travel advisory recommending that people do not travel to Northern Israel within 2.5 miles of the Lebanese and Syrian borders due to rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, and to not travel to Gaza due to terrorism and armed conflict.
The State Department also advised people to reconsider travel to Israel and the West Bank due to terrorism and civil unrest.
“Terrorist groups, lone-actor terrorists and other violent extremists continue plotting possible attacks in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza,” according to the State Department advisory. “Violence can occur in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza without warning.”
Other airlines including United have also suspended flights to Tel Aviv.
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