British airline Virgin Atlantic permanently cancels London flights to Israel

British airline Virgin Atlantic has announced it will not resume its London flights to Israel, following a comprehensive review of the situation, according to a report by Hebrew news site Yedioth Ahronoth.

The carrier had initially suspended its London–Tel Aviv route in October 2023 after the start of Israel's devastating war on Gaza, which is under investigation by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for war crimes and acts of genocide.

Virgin Atlantic originally planned to restart flights in September 2024. It was among many airlines which suspended operations to Israel in October 2023, following the start of the war on Gaza.

While some carriers, such as Wizz Air and British Airways, resumed flights to Tel Aviv in March and April 2024 respectively, Virgin has opted to cancel its route permanently.

The airline said that customers who booked flights directly with Virgin Atlantic will be notified by email from 10 May.

The New Arab has reached out to the airline for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Virgin commenced flights to Israel in September 2019, initially offering one daily flight between London and Tel Aviv before expanding to two flights per day.

Despite cancelling its own services, the airline has maintained a partnership with Israeli carrier El Al, offering travellers flights through the codeshare agreement.

Since 7 October 2023, Israel’s assault on Gaza, backed by the United States, has killed over 61,700 Palestinians, including at least 18,000 children and 12,000 women. More than 11,000 people remain missing beneath the rubble.