Low-cost giant Ryanair and other international carriers extend suspension of Israel flights despite ceasefire

Irish airline Ryanair announced on Tuesday that it was extending its suspensions of flights to and from Israel, citing continued concerns despite the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran.

Ryanair announced “it would not resume flights to and from Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport before Oct. 25, extending its absence further after previously saying it was suspending those flights through September,” Ynet News reported.

Swiss International Airlines, easyJet, and British Airways have also canceled flights through Oct. 25, while a number of other airlines have suspended flights into July, August, September or October.

The extended suspensions come despite Ben Gurion Airport fully resuming its operations.

“Restrictions on the number of incoming and outgoing flights, as well as the number of passengers on each flight, have been lifted,” the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) announced on Tuesday. “In addition, restrictions on the arrival of passengers and accompanying persons at the airports have been lifted.”

Ryanair has previously made headlines for saying it was “running out of patience…with Israel” due to the ongoing security problems.

Last June, the airline issued a public apology after a flight attendant reportedly announced that the plane would be landing in “occupied Palestine.”

“This was an innocent mistake with no intent and was immediately corrected and apologized for by the senior crew member on board,” the airline said, without confirming whether or not the word “occupied” was used before “Palestine.”

Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson stressed at the time that “Israel is an important partner for Ryanair.”

“We are Israel's second-largest airline and we plan to continue to invest in Israel to grow traffic and connectivity both for Israelis traveling to Europe and also to bring much-needed inbound tourism to Israel,” he said.