As of today, October 17, 2023, Israel is in day 10 of the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. As you may have seen in the news over this week, Israel had initially cut off all supplies entering Gaza, including food & water, electricity, gasoline & oil, etc. As of yesterday morning, Israel has gone back on part of this decision and opted to turn the water facilities back on for the people previously affected as some requests received by Red Cross . While the number has continued to increase, Israel has currently dropped over 6,000 bombs on this small strip of land ranging 25 miles in length and only a mere 7 ½ miles wide, which is comparable to Tampa, FL (175.3 miles2). Currently Gaza appears to be the only area impacted, whereas the remainder of Israel including sites of tourism remain unaffected.
Over the weekend, we received some inquiries from travelers scheduled to travel in the Spring of 2024, reporting that imagine had either rescheduled (or cancelled) their trip, however this is not the case. We would like to reiterate that groups scheduled to travel from December 2023 onwards to Israel are set still scheduled to operate as normal. Imagine has not provided tour leaders or travelers with any statement regarding trips scheduled in December 2023 onward, as many of the airlines are set to resume their flights, as noted below. Any trips that have been rescheduled have been communicated directly with your tour leader (group organizer), along with options for the trip to be reschedule to a future date to Israel or to an alternate destination. All other trips that have been “rescheduled” are at the choice and discretion of our tour leaders. Imagine has no intent to cancel any trips past the end of November 2023, meaning that if your tour leader states otherwise, this is their decision and not imagines’. If your tour dates have remained unchanged and you prefer to travel at a later date, you are welcome to contact our office with this request. Please feel free to reach out to your Operations Representative if you have any questions or concerns regarding your upcoming tour, rescheduling status or more.
Regarding the flights as mentioned previously, we have remained in direct contact with our airline partners and their representatives. In the event that anything should change, we will continue to remain in direct contact with your tour leader (group organizer) to provide them with an update. Should the flights be cancelled, we will discuss their options to move forward with future dates as many airlines are currently providing credits or refunds (not all airlines are providing refunds, some are only providing credits/vouchers for future travel. Many of the airlines have chosen to address the ongoing crisis on a weekly basis, meaning that this information is fluid as well as limited. Below, we’ve enclosed the most up-to-date information regarding several of the major airlines who fly to Tel Aviv:
Air Canada Flights to TLV suspended through November 30th, reinstatement TBD
Air France Flights to TLV suspended, reinstatement TBD
American Airlines Flights to TLV suspended through December 4th
Delta Airlines Flights to TLV suspended through October 31st, reinstatement TBD
El AL Flights to TLV continued only for Israeli citizens and military personnel
Lufthansa Flights to TLV suspended through October 22nd, resuming October 23rd
Turkish Airlines Flights to TLV suspended through November 30th, reinstatement TBD
United Airlines Flights to TLV suspended through November 15th