Israel flights being diverted to Cyprus

DOZENS of flights are being diverted to Cyprus for refuelling after Israel yesterday halted most departures from Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion international airport due to contaminated jet fuel supplies.

Only aircraft that flew into Tel Aviv with sufficient fuel to reach their next destination were being allowed to depart as scheduled, a spokesman for Ben-Gurion airport told Reuters.

The spokesman, Adar Avisar, said the cause of the contamination in Israel was not immediately known, and that it had been discovered early enough in the day to ensure that no plane had departed with fuel that might have been contaminated.

“There are no planes in the air that have received an order to land,” he said

Israeli daily Haaretz reported the firm that provides the fuel to Ben-Gurion had alerted airport authorities of the contamination, prompting the airport manager to order all refueling there be stopped.

Aircraft bound for Ben-Gurion and due to depart from Tel Aviv would land in Cyprus to refuel.

By early yesterday afternoon, nine flights operated by foreign airlines had been redirected for refuelling to Larnaca airport. Adamos Aspris, spokesman for Hermes Airports, said they expected around 15 extra flights by the end of the day.

This would likely continue through to Saturday, said Aspris. The expected extra traffic at the Larnaca and Paphos airports would not affect flight schedules here, he said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.