Situation in Israel too dangerous: Swiss no longer operates repatriation flights

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Swiss no longer flies to Israel. The airline actually wanted to operate two special flights on Saturday. But the flights were cancelled, Blick learned from the federal government. The Swiss machines remain on the ground. It is said that the situation is too dangerous due to the Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. The airline actually wanted to pick up another 215 passengers in Tel Aviv. But experts expect the situation in Israel to deteriorate tomorrow morning.

For safety reasons, Swiss had already flown a slightly different route on its special flights. Now, however, there will hardly be any civilian planes flying towards Israel, because the fighting is likely to spread with the offensive.

Booking opened accidentally

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EDA) had expected that Swiss would still fly on Saturday. In the meantime, bookings for the day could still be made via their helpline. However, during Friday it became clear that the flights could only be scheduled with reservations and that a final decision should have been made on Saturday. But in this case, more than 400 people are said to have gathered at Tel Aviv airport. And the disappointment would have been great if the special flights had not taken place.

Such a large gathering of people could also be targeted by Hamas. Ground crews in Tel Aviv also exposed themselves to increasing danger. And as long as the Swiss plane spends time on the ground while passengers board and disembark and their luggage is loaded, the crew isn’t safe either.

For similar reasons, other European airlines will no longer operate special flights with immediate effect.

The Austrian Hercules failed

Austria wanted to fly its citizens out of Israel on a military plane. But on Wednesday, the Austrian army’s Hercules machine developed a defect. Finally some people were able to fly to Larnaca (Cyprus) on a charter plane. On Thursday, Austrian Airlines (AUA) intervened to take the people from Larnaca and Tel Aviv.

Not everything went smoothly in Germany either. Swiss and AUA parent company Lufthansa announced the tariff on Saturday after the radical Islamist Hamas attack on Israel; the airline’s airlines did not operate any special flights. But under pressure from the EDA, Swiss was the first to withdraw. Also in Austria – as described – it did not work without the airline. Lufthansa had to bow to pressure from the German federal government and operated several flights on Thursday and Friday.

German hotline did not work

Just like the Swiss, Germans had to register for Lufthansa flights via a special hotline. This caused major problems, several people who wanted to return told various German media. Even after 100 attempts, one time you couldn’t get through and instead of the callers being able to remain on hold, they only got a busy signal.

German plans currently call for a flight to Larnaca (Cyprus). The federal government organizes buses and a ferry to take German citizens to the sea and to Cyprus. But the Swiss do not have the opportunity to bring people to Larnaca. She could just pick them up there.

Take advantage of others

The FDFA had said that after the end of the special flights, Switzerland would try to find solutions together with other countries to bring back the remaining Swiss nationals who wanted to leave. Since the Swiss Air Force does not have suitable transport aircraft, they wanted to take advantage of other armies, as was the case during the coup in Sudan, when the Swiss were able to fly French military aircraft. But as the Hercules now shows, it is not certain that this will work.

Source:Blick