News / Lufthansa Cargo suspends Tel Aviv services after missile attack

Photo: Lufthansa Cargo

Lufthansa Cargo has suspended its services into Ben Gurion Airport, following rocket attacks against Israel’s main airfreight gateway at the weekend.

The German flag-carrier was one of at least 17 airlines to sever is operations into the Tel Aviv airport after Iran-backed, Yemen-based Houthi rebels fired a missile that injured eight and threatened a blockade of Israeli airspace on Sunday.

A spokesperson told The Loadstar: “Due to the current situation, Lufthansa Cargo has decided to suspend its flights to and from Tel Aviv until and including 11 May.

“Acceptance of shipments to Tel Aviv in Fraport is not possible until further notice, including bookings [for] temperature-sensitive cargo shipped with active cooling, temperature-sensitive cargo shipped with passive cooling, transport of live animals, and perishables.”

That means suspension of its weekly A321 freighter service running Fraport-Tel Aviv-Fraport.

In addition, the spokesperson said, Lufthansa’s weekly 777F running Fraport-Tel Aviv-Cairo-Fraport every fourth day of the week, would exclude the call into Israel, and noted there were “no alternative gateways to Tel Aviv”.

While the spokesperson said flights were suspended until 11 May, the inference was that cargo services may be delayed for longer, telling The Loadstar it was harder to provide a clearer time-frame on cargo because of the knock-on effects of the suspension – not least the backlog of cargo already at the terminal waiting to be shipped.

Others have been less conclusive in their response to the Houthi threat, live tracking data indicating that DHL and FedEx are still servicing Ben Gurion.

A DHL spokesperson said: “The safety of employees is the top priority in all our measures, which is why DHL Express is monitoring the situation very closely. We are used to flexibly adjusting our flight operations as needed to mitigate risk and ensure a high level of service.”

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