Passover Grounded: British Airways Flights To Tel Aviv Cancelled
British Airways Flights to Israel will be grounded ahead of Passover
The proposed British Airways strike looks set to ruin Passover plans of UK Jews looking to spend the holiday in Israel.
The airline has cancelled six flights to Tel Aviv after BA’s cabin crew announced it would strike, leaving around 1,000 passengers planning to travel from London in despair.
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“Simon”, who is 28 and from Borehamwood, is one traveller whose Passover plans were nearly wrecked by the strike. He had booked BA tickets to fly to Tel-Aviv on 28 March with his wife and baby.
He was furious when he heard there could be a strike and the flight could be cancelled. He had his tickets refunded and bought last-minute seats with El Al. “We had to pay £900 more that we would have done,” he said.
“My wife’s whole family will be in Israel as it is her grandfather’s second barmitzvah, so missing this moment wasn’t an option for us,” he added. He is angry with the union Unite for choosing such a busy time to strike and ruining the plans of so many travellers. He said: “They could have chosen to strike at a less busy time, not during a period that will upset thousands of people.”
Adam Huberman, general manager of Issta, a flight and tour operator specialising in trips to Israel, has dealt with around 80 disgruntled BA passengers in the past week. He said that even though BA might not cancel flights to Israel during the second strike period, panicked travellers are rushing to book alternative flights. “Passengers are worried about cancelling their long-awaited Pesach holiday and many are worried about not getting home for Pesach,” he said. “Many have already rebooked and filled up the extra flights as they could not wait until 22 March to find out if BA will operate. Most have been lucky to get alternative flights but the choices are running out for flights at a reasonable cost.”
He added: “I recommend clients rebook onto alternative flights now while there is still some choice. Otherwise they should be prepared to spend Pesach at home.”
El Al has said it is doing what it can to accommodate extra passengers, including adding at least one extra flight and bringing in larger aircraft. “We are looking at everything on a day-by-day basis,” a spokesman said. “We have upgraded the aircraft for the flight on the Tuesday to add 150 extra seats and are adding an extra flight on 24 March from Luton.”
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