PARIS: Major airlines cancelled dozens of flights to Tel Aviv this weekend after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale attack against Israel.
On the arrivals board at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport American Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates, Ryanair and Aegean Airlines were among those pulling flights.
However airport authorities did not stop commercial air links with Eilat, Israel's second international airport and tourist destination on the Red Sea.
"Given the current security situation in Tel Aviv, Lufthansa is cancelling all flights to and from Tel Aviv up until and including Monday", a spokesman for the German carrier told AFP.
The airline was "monitoring the security situation in Israel," he added.
Brussels Airline, part of the Lufthansa group, also cancelled its Tel Aviv flights.
Air France said it had halted Tel Aviv flights "until further notice".
"Commercial measures are in place, allowing customers to postpone or cancel their trip free of charge", an Air France spokesman said.
Air France-KLM group's low-cost carrier Transavia announced it was cancelling all flights from Paris and Lyon to Tel Aviv up to and including Monday.
Spanish airline Iberia announced that its budget subsidiary Iberia Express was cancelling its Tel Aviv flights.
Italy's flag-carrier ITA airways cancelled its flight until Sunday morning at the earliest "to protect the safety of passengers and crew".
Spanish airline Iberia announced that its budget subsidiary Iberia Express was cancelling its Tel Aviv flights.
In Warsaw, Polish carrier LOT said it had cancelled its flights from the Polish capital on Saturday.