An El Al plane is seen at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on December 31, 2022. (Photo by Jakub Purzycki/Noor Photo via Getty Images)
Jakub Purzycki | norphoto | Getty Images
A closure of airspace across the Middle East led to the suspension and diversion of flights on Saturday after Iran launched drones toward Israel.
United Airlines, which resumed services to Tel Aviv early last month after suspending its Israeli flights following Hamas attacks in October, canceled its flight from Newark to Tel Aviv on Saturday after Israel closed its airspace. Jordan and Iraq also closed their airspace, according to the state-owned Jordanian news agency Al-Mamlaka.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and will make decisions about upcoming flights with an eye toward the safety of our customers and crews,” United said in a statement. The airline is the only American airline that has resumed its services to Israel since October. Delta was scheduled to resume flights to Tel Aviv in June. 7. American Airlines has not resumed services to Israel.
United was also scheduled to fly from Washington Dulles International Airport to Amman, Jordan, at 10:30 p.m. Saturday night, but the flight will likely be cancelled, according to a person familiar with the matter.
It is not clear when flights will resume.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said several flights bound for Tel Aviv and Amman were diverted on Saturday.
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