The first pessimist was found in the tourism industry – this is a large airline that canceled flights to Israel not for a few weeks, but for six months at once, apparently deciding that the war would last forever. This company became the Finnish flagship airline Finnair, which decided to suspend flights to Tel Aviv until March 2024.
The Finnish press quoted the company’s statement about the flight cancellations, as well as the fact that there are few alternative flights and they tend to fill up quickly. In this regard, Finnair recommends that tourists contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, as they have declared their commitment to coordinate their evacuation in Israel. The agency must decide on possible evacuation flights and inform about them.
“Finnair will work with the ministry and other officials when necessary. But in this situation, we do not fly to Tel Aviv and do not use Israeli airspace. Safety is always our top priority,” the airline said.
At the same time, flights to Israel are canceled en masse – but so far no one has announced such a long cancellation. Among the airlines that either reduced or completely canceled flights to the country – are Wizz Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Air India, Turkish Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Air, Emirates, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, and many others. others
Switzerland, Norway, and Estonia have also issued recommendations for their citizens to avoid traveling to these areas. German tour operators also took off tours there.
At the same time, due to the suspension of tourism to Israel, other areas will benefit. A whole cohort of large operators traded Israel for Turkey – we are talking about cruise companies. During the high tourist season, plans for events to Israel were in demand by many cruise lines, but as a result, operators MSC, NCL, Royal Caribbean, and other companies diverted their ships from Israel to alternative ports – and primarily to Turkey.