Airlines suspend flights from, to Israel over outbreak

JERUSALEM

Domestic and international airlines temporarily suspended flights to and from Israel over the coronavirus outbreak.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday asserted that the government has decided to quarantine all passengers arriving to Israel from abroad for 14 days.

“This is a tough decision, but it is essential to maintain public health,” Netanyahu said, “and public health precedes everything.”

The Hungarian Wizz Air company decided to suspend its flights to and from Israel until March 23, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation.

Also, the "Times of Israel" news website said on Tuesday that the Israeli private airline Arkia decided to cancel its international flights immediately until further notice.

The Israeli airline Isra Air will also suspend its international flights from next week until the end of this month.

These decisions come after the announcement of the Italian airlines L'Italy, Spanish Iberia and German Lufthansa to cancel their flights to Israel until the end of this month.

The Israeli news site stressed that the official Israeli airline El Al announced that it would continue its international flights although it had reduced its services.

The Israeli channel 13 said that there are 300,000 Israelis who are outside Israel and they will return this week.

Last week, Netanyahu called on Israelis returning from France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Austria to remain in quarantine for 14 days and the entry of foreigners from these countries was banned.

The global death toll from COVID-19 is around 3,800 with more than 110,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

As part of efforts to contain the outbreak, governments have closed borders and suspended land and air travel with the worst-hit countries, including China, Iran and Italy.

After declaring the outbreak an international health emergency in January, the WHO last month updated the global risk level to “very high.”

* Bassel Ibrahim contributed to this report from Ankara