Ben Gurion Airport under rocket attack question?

MiloDublin

This morning Haaretz is reporting that Hamas is firing rockets at Ben Gurion airport but it is still open to flights. Can anybody explain what the insurance issues for airlines operating in war zones are? Why would airlines take the risk?

keith16

Hamas can fire all the rockets they want. They simply do not have even a fraction of the military capability of Israel.

High profile targets like Tel Aviv airport are not under any real threat.

Gaza meanwhile have not had a functioning airport since 2009 when Israel bombed it into oblivion.

Strumms

It's an idle threat. They would loose so much support if they attacked an airport which would have probably hundreds of nationalities as well as Israelis present at any one time.

Tenger

This is an aviation forum. Discussion of the political/social/military aspects of the incident is better moved elsewhere.



In relation to operating in a warzone: The vast majority of airlines do not do so. I would hazard a guess that standard insurance policy's preclude operating into warzones and/or areas of heightened military activity.

Look at Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 10 years....it took a while until normal airlines began operating scheduled services again. Mostly it was military charters, if not solely military transports before that again.

I suspect El Al (and other Israeli airlines) have a non-standard insurance policy due to their country of origin.

folbotcar

It's a bluff. The best clue is that the Israelis are not unduly concerned. If they had the capability of actually targeting a specific locality. They would have done it by now. As it is they are simply throwing high explosive rocks in the random hope of hitting something.

MiloDublin

Iron Dome has a 90% success rate but why would any airline feel safe landing in Ben Gurion if when on approach a wing could be blown off?

snubbleste

So, eh, a rocket hit 1.6km from BenGurion airport - EU & US airlines are halting flights there
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28427236

Would you be happy landing as a passenger knowing there was rockets landing a mile away?, do you not remember Malaysian 17 last week ?

So airlines are now taking appropriate action and you are questioning them for reacting. They can't win.

smurfjed

FAA have issued a NOTAM prohibiting operations by US operators to TLV.

Growler!!!

The FAA has lifted its restrictions on U.S. airline flights into and out of Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport by cancelling a Notice to Airmen it renewed earlier today. The cancellation is effective at approximately 11:45 p.m. EDT.

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 FAA’s primary mission and interest are the protection of people traveling on U.S. airlines. The agency will continue to closely monitor the very fluid situation around Ben Gurion Airport and will take additional actions, as necessary.

The FAA initially instituted the flight prohibition on Tuesday, July 22, in response to a rocket strike that landed approximately one mile from the airport.

http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=16734