Israel looks to back-up airport as flight cancellations mount

BA, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa and Iberia all cancelled flights to Tel Aviv as European carriers joined US airlines in avoiding flying to Israel, which has activated a back-up airport in the far south as a precaution against rockets from Gaza. Palestinian militants have repeatedly shelled the Tel Aviv area during hostilities that erupted on Monday, raising safety concerns over Ben Gurion Airport, Israel's main airport, and prompting it to reroute some flights to Ramon Airport, some 200 km to the south, which serves Eilat. "The safety and security of our colleagues and customers is always our top priority, and we continue to monitor the situation closely," BA said after cancelling its flights to and from Ben Gurion for Thursday. Hamas militants in Gaza said they had launched a rocket at Ramon Airport on Thursday, but the Israel Airports Authority said that no rocket had struck Ramon and that it was operating as normal. The airport, which opened in 2019, can handle about 2m passengers a year. It is connected by bus routes to the north, although there is no train service. Its arrivals board showed several El Al flights from abroad that had been originally scheduled to land at Ben Gurion. An Israeli official said the two airports were operating in sync. Ben Gurion was handling cargo, private and some other flights, and Ramon is "open for landing international commercial flights" and running scheduled domestic flights, he said.<br/>