FAA Lifts Ban on Flights to Israel

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The Federal Aviation Administration late Wednesday night lifted its 36-hour ban on U.S. carriers flying to and from Tel Aviv, Israel, the agency announced.

The announcement came at 11:45 p.m.

“Before making this decision, the FAA worked with its U.S. government counterparts to assess the security situation in Israel and carefully reviewed both significant new information and measures the Government of Israel is taking to mitigate potential risks to civil aviation,” the agency said in a statement. “The FAA will continue to closely monitor the very fluid situation around Ben Gurion Airport.”

Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv is the largest airport by passenger traffic in Israel. On Tuesday, the FAA banned U.S. carriers from flying there after a rocket launched from Gaza landed less than a mile from the airport. Israel and Hamas have been engaged in hostilities for weeks.

Giora Romm, Director of the Civil Aviation Authority in Israel, appeared on CNN this morning and said that two U.S. carriers who fly to Tel Aviv – US Airways and United – told him they would resume flights to Israel. American and Delta have yet to comment.

“To stop the restrictions is a vote of confidence in our quality and level of professionalism,” Romm told CNN. “Ben-Gurion is as safe an airport as safe can be. We expect airlines to fly as if there is no conflict down there in Gaza.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heavily lobbied Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in Israel, to rescind the ban. Americans account for the biggest sector of tourists to Israel, almost 20 percent of the yearly 3.5 million visitors.