British Airways to Cut M.E flights.

BA to halt flights to Israel.

BRITISH Airways has announced it would cancel all its flights to Israel against the backdrop of an imminent war in Iraq and its possible repercussions on the Jewish state.

“British Airways is to suspend flights to and from Israel until further notice with effect from tomorrow night, March 19, 2003,” said a statement issued by BA, the first airline to stop its flights to Israel due to the Iraq crisis.

“We have taken this action in light of the change in Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) travel advice,” said Spencer Hanlon, BA’s Israel Commercial Manager, in the statement.

The FCO travel advice warned: “There is a risk of an attack against Israel from Iraq in the event of hostilities. This might involve chemical and biological weapons. The West Bank and Gaza Strip may be affected indirectly.

“We therefore advise against travel to Israel and Jerusalem. If you are already there, you should leave as soon as possible unless your presence is essential.”

Other major airlines, including those from the United States, have so far made no statements hinting that their regular flight patterns could be altered.

But Galit Mizrahi, from the American Express travel agency, said Italian airline Alitalia had asked all of its clients to return quickly to Israel.

“Alitalia has asked people travelling abroad to speed up their return and they could soon announce a cancellation of their flights,” she told AFP.

“Everybody is hysterical right now. Plans are changing all the time and the airlines don’t know more than we do.”

US President George W Bush issued an overnight ultimatum to President Saddam Hussein and his family to leave Iraq within 48 hours or face war.

In 1991, Iraq retaliated to the attack led by Bush’s father by firing Scud missiles on Israel, killing two people and damaging hundreds of homes.

Israel has since developed a sophisticated two-layer anti-missile system, and US fighters last week bombed the little defence infrastructure reportedly left in western Iraq, the only part of the country from which Saddam’s arsenal could hit the Jewish state.
————————————————————————————

Justplanes.com has a small update flight list of BA M.E flights, for anyone whos interested.