A plane belonging to Israel's national airline El Al sits on the tarmac of Ben Gurion International airport, near Tel Aviv
AFP/Tel Aviv
Major airlines shunned Israel for a second day on Wednesday while Washington renewed a ban on US flights to Tel Aviv due to the Gaza conflict.
In a Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibited all flights by US operators to Ben Gurion International Airport for another 24 hours until 1615 GMT on Thursday.
It issued its initial ban on Tuesday after a Hamas rocket fell on a neighborhood to the north of the airport, raising fears that a commercial flight risked being struck.
Delta, United and US Airways all cancelled their scheduled flights for Wednesday, as did a raft of European carriers including Lufthansa.
"We will continue to suspend flying to and from Tel Aviv consistent with the FAA directive and will continue to coordinate with the FAA to ensure the safety of our customers and employees," a United spokeswoman said.
"We plan these things conservatively," added Delta's chief executive Richard Anderson, speaking on the CNBC business news cable channel.
"But we will need concrete information from our government that lets us draw an independent conclusion ... that it's going to be safe for our passengers and our employees."
In Europe, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, Lufthansa and SAS all cancelled their Wednesday services to Tel Aviv.
"At the moment there is no reliable new information that would justify a resumption of flight service," said Lufthansa in a statement.
Austrian, which carries up to 700 passengers between Vienna and Tel Aviv every day, and SAS said they would review the situation for Thursday.
Aeroflot and Romanian carrier TAROM, on the other hand, said they would resume flights Wednesday after cancelling Tuesday's services.
In a press statement, the FAA said it was "working closely" with the Israeli government to "determine whether potential risks to US civil aviation are mitigated so the agency can resolve concerns as quickly as possible."
Meanwhile, Israeli flag carrier El Al declared on its website that it was business as usual.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is trying to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the FAA ban was ordered only to protect the safety of US citizens.
The Israeli Airports Authority meanwhile announced Wednesday it would open the Ovda military airport, 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of Israel's Red Sea resort of Eilat, as an alternative to Ben Gurion.
