A number of foreign airlines extended their cancellations of flights to Tel Aviv on Monday, a day after a Houthi missile struck near Ben Gurion Airport, and as the Yemen-based terror group threatened to “blockade” Israel’s main transit hub.

Due to the flight cancellations, Israeli carriers started to add some flights and cap one-way fares to help Israelis stranded overseas to travel back home. However, the shortage of available seats was turning the efforts by flagship carrier El Al Israel Airlines and smaller local carriers into no more than a gesture.

United Airlines extended its cancellation of flights to and from Newark Airport through May 11, beyond its original cancellation through May 8.

The Lufthansa group of carriers — which also includes SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines — said Monday that it was extending its suspension of all flights to Israel through May 11, after previously canceling them through May 6.

Air France extended its cancellations through May 13, while Hungarian low-cost giant Wizz Air said that it was extending its cancellations through May 8.

Most foreign carriers canceled their Tel Aviv flights after a ballistic missile from Yemen impacted outside Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday, wounding several people and causing chaos at the airport. Iberia, LOT, Air Europa, British Airways, ITA, Ryanair, and Delta all halted their flights to Israel for at least several days, as did a number of other smaller airlines.

Many of the airlines had only recently resumed service........

© The Times of Israel