Simchas Torah War - Flights Discussion Thread

[youthink]

We were lucky to get on the one BA flight yesterday from TLV at 16:35. I believe BA will continue the LHR>TLV>LHR route once daily. Here's why:

The pilot announced there were more crew than usual to accommodate rest-time. The crew from LHR>TLV was the same as on our flight back to LHR some 2 hours after landing. Meaning they appear to have not left the aircraft for 12+ hours. The additional crew allowed them to rest and not time-out.

Seems that BA feels that this strategy limits risk to their crew and aircraft. The reverse is the reason they have cancelled  their 7:10AM flight from TLV and the 17:05 from LHR. That would require their crew overnighting in TLV and their aircraft on the ground for an extended period of time.

The North American carriers with their long flight times would not be able to operate this way as crew would need to be in TLV for a much longer period of time. I'm sure there are other insurance and union issues at play.

The takeoff pattern seemed unusual as we we headed east over Israel before looping back to the Mediterranean. I asked a crew member about this who said they are doing things differently and they all received safety briefings before the flight. Upon arrival in London, there were plainclothes police handing out leaflets and asking if anyone wanted to report anything. I'm not sure if anyone took them up on that.

Cyprus looks like the new hot-spot. There were 3 different airlines around our BA gate flying to Larneca.

[ari3]

https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/BAW165

Whats happening?

Missiles landing near the airport so they turned around?

[tavster]

Missiles landing near the airport so they turned around?

https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1712109527934366159?t=Gxlija9lIJSZU1dirCYobw&s=19

[yuneeq]

*Help Needed:* An American family was in Israel for the Chag when one of the family members began not feeling well. In the hospital he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Doctors are highly recommending he begin treatment within 72 hours in America but they cannot find a flight home to NY or Boston or similar.

They need three tickets asap. Two tickets needed to be in business for the patient and paramedic, together with the medical equipment. A third ticket is needed for a parent, though that ticket can be anywhere on plane.

Business is basically completely not available, so this isn’t a request for funds as much as it is a call out for someone who may have these tickets and is willing to do a direct transfer of the tickets.

Please reach out to Aviva Goldberg at (516) 712-43 six five and share widely in groups and beyond. Let’s help them!

[Jeremiah]

Here is some useful information that a friend just forwarded

Anyone stuck in Cyprus Larnaca (LCA) and doesn't want to take 3 flights to get to NY there is an airport around 1 hour away in Lefkosa  (ECN) There is a border to drive through took me about 3 min, and the airport is brand new opened in July 2023, they have many flights via Turkish Airlines to NY/NJ with a short stopover in Istanbul, price is around $700-$800.

[AsherO]

*Help Needed:* An American family was in Israel for the Chag when one of the family members began not feeling well. In the hospital he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Doctors are highly recommending he begin treatment within 72 hours in America but they cannot find a flight home to NY or Boston or similar.

They need three tickets asap. Two tickets needed to be in business for the patient and paramedic, together with the medical equipment. A third ticket is needed for a parent, though that ticket can be anywhere on plane.

Business is basically completely not available, so this isn’t a request for funds as much as it is a call out for someone who may have these tickets and is willing to do a direct transfer of the tickets.

Please reach out to Aviva Goldberg at (516) 712-43 six five and share widely in groups and beyond. Let’s help them!

Refuah sheleima

@Dan @tavster @chff

[yuneeq]

*Help Needed:* An American family was in Israel for the Chag when one of the family members began not feeling well. In the hospital he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Doctors are highly recommending he begin treatment within 72 hours in America but they cannot find a flight home to NY or Boston or similar.

They need three tickets asap. Two tickets needed to be in business for the patient and paramedic, together with the medical equipment. A third ticket is needed for a parent, though that ticket can be anywhere on plane.

Business is basically completely not available, so this isn’t a request for funds as much as it is a call out for someone who may have these tickets and is willing to do a direct transfer of the tickets.

Please reach out to Aviva Goldberg at (516) 712-43 six five and share widely in groups and beyond. Let’s help them!

Covered for now
“Folks, hatzolah air is responding, and so i think we no longer (for the moment) need to keep this project on our list.  Thank you . if HA cannot do it, we are working on backup solutions”

[tavster]

*BRITISH AIRWAYS SUSPENDS FLIGHTS TO TEL AVIV: SPOKESPERSON

[mevinyavin]

According to Chaim vChessed, Canada is sending "army planes" to get its citizens.
https://chaimvchessed.com/updates/canada-to-evacuate-its-citizens-from-israel/

[Something Fishy]

Countries with rescue flights so far:
1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Chile
4. Fiji (Fiji!!)
5. Germany
6. Iceland
7. Italy
8. Netherlands
9. Poland
10. Spain

Countries with nothing but crickets:
1. United States

Absolutely pathetic.

Additional as of today:
11. Australia
12. Canada
13. France

Still nothing from:
1. United States

[Euclid]

Additional as of today:
11. Australia
12. Canada
13. France

Still nothing from:
1. United States

Not excusing them, but the logistics is exponentially more difficult for US citizens which outnumber all those other countries combined by several orders of magnitude

[Something Fishy]

Not excusing them, but the logistics is exponentially more difficult for US citizens which outnumber all those other countries combined by several orders of magnitude

I saw an estimate of 100k US or dual citizens currently in Israel (no idea if that's remotely accurate or what it's based on, or how many of these are actually trying to leave).

But that's zero excuse for not getting started and evacuating anyone at all.

[TBD]

Not excusing them, but the logistics is exponentially more difficult for US citizens which outnumber all those other countries combined by several orders of magnitude

And the US Army significantly outnumbers all those armies together. They even managed a wonderful evacuation from Afghanistan

[Euclid]

I saw an estimate of 100k US or dual citizens currently in Israel (no idea if that's remotely accurate or what it's based on, or how many of these are actually trying to leave).

But that's zero excuse for not getting started and evacuating anyone at all.

1000% but comparing them to those other countries isn't apples and apples

[mevinyavin]

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-767798
US in talks with airlines about flights to IL, whatever that means.

[Something Fishy]

Additional as of today:
11. Australia
12. Canada
13. France

Still nothing from:
1. United States

14. Thailand

[youthink]

We were lucky to get on the one BA flight yesterday from TLV at 16:35. I believe BA will continue the LHR>TLV>LHR route once daily. 

Wow, my prediction aged poorly! Turns out we were on the last BA flight out.

[tavster]

*VIRGIN ATLANTIC HALTS FLIGHTS TO TEL AVIV FOR NEXT 72 HOURS

[Dan]

*VIRGIN ATLANTIC HALTS FLIGHTS TO TEL AVIV FOR NEXT 72 HOURS

Link?

[Dan]

Is this currently accurate?

https://www.dansdeals.com/airfare-deals/israel-flights/roundup-flights-operating-israel-week/