Wizz Air extends Israel flight cancellations until March

Wizz Air Holdings Plc has canceled all flights to Tel Aviv through until March as the conflict between Hamas and Israel wages on.

The Hungarian budget carrier had previously paused flights to and from Israel until the end of January. A spokesperson said the airline decided on Wednesday to extend the pause over the next three months.

There has been no material impact as Wizz stopped flights to the region in October and all capacity was relocated to other countries, the spokesperson said. The airline will continue to monitor the situation on a regular basis.

Wizz was among airlines to pause operations to Israel after the conflict broke out in October. Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi said in November in an interview that the war had to settle down before Wizz restarts flights to the region because passenger safety was paramount.

Wizz has taken the opposite approach to Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which announced it will resume flights to Israel in early January, providing 20 weekly connections to and from Tel Aviv. This makes the German carrier the first major airline to return to the country.

Ryanair Holdings Plc reported on Wednesday in a traffic update that it had canceled more than 900 flights in December because of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Irish low-cost airline said in November during earnings that there was a sharp increase in no-shows and a collapse in bookings for Israel flights. Air-France has reported similar trends.