UIA monitors flights to Tel Aviv every 48 hours

17.05.2021: Ukraine International Airlines announced another cancellation of flights to Tel Aviv. In order to ensure the safety of passengers and crew the flights PS 778/17MAY TLV – KBP, PS788/17MAY TLV-ODS, PS775/776 17MAY KBP-TLV-KBP, PS777/778 17/18MAY KBP-TLV-KBP and PS775/776 18MAY KBP-TLV-KBP are canceled.

Since the escalation of the conflict, the air carrier has operated a single flight, and later announced the cancellation of all subsequent flights. “We are monitoring the situation in Israel very thoroughly. We see that many airlines fly to Ben Gurion airport, circle around and return to their home airports. The situation during the first day of the conflict developed very rapidly. While we were issuing an official message about the return to KBP from Larnaca, Ben Gurion Airport has already confirmed our landing. However, we cannot keep passengers stressed and in the dark, so since today we decided to cancel flights and reconsider our decision every 48 hours. The decisions in the airline are made by taking into account NOTAMs, internal risk assessment, the current regulations of Ben Gurion Airport and the messages of the aviation regulators of Ukraine and Israel, since flight safety is achieved by each of the aviation actors doing their part of “homework”. “At the moment, the level of threat to aviation security has been increased, according to the state regulator of Ukraine, and Ukrainian carriers are advised to refrain from flying to Tel Aviv,” noted Yevheniy Dykhne, UIA CEO, in his comment.

It is known that on May 11, after the escalation of the military-political situation in the Middle East, the UIA flight, which was en route to Tel Aviv, changed its arrival airport at the request of the security units of Ben Gurion Airport and landed in Larnaca. Later, the crew of the Ukrainian liner has received an additional information from the Tel Aviv airport, which guaranteed maximum flight safety in specially designated area. Now, all Kyiv-Tel Aviv-Kyiv and Odesa-Tel Aviv-Odesa flights have been cancelled up to and including May 18.

“Today Ben Gurion Airport is recognised as the world's top airport in terms of security management at the highest threat levels. I have witnessed this myself during my tenure at the Boryspil airport, which closely follows footsteps of its Tel Aviv counterpart and keeps drawing on their experience. We have 100% confidence in the expertise and professionalism of Israel's main airport. As soon as we receive a signal about the possibility of a full resumption of flights, we will immediately restore them,” added Yevheniy Dykhne.

For tickets with actually canceled flights, the following actions are possible:

• Change of travel date for UIA flights without payment of penalty according to the fare in the original class during the ticket validity period, subject to removal of restrictions by the airport.
• Exchange of a ticket for a promo code with an additional 25% bonus on the UIA website
• Refund

UIA's decision to operate flights will be reviewed every 48 hours, taking into account updates on restrictions of flights to TLV airport.