---
title: "Airlines including Lufthansa cautiously plan to resume some Middle East flights"
description: "BERLIN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Germany's Lufthansa LHAG.DE said on Thursday it was set to resume flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel from Feb. 1, after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was announced by mediators, as carriers cautiously consider resuming flights to the region."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Middle East conflict"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-16-airlines-including-lufthansa-cautiously-plan-to-resume-some-middle-east-flights/"
published: "2025-01-16T12:32:53"
updated: "2025-01-16T12:32:55"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 175
---

# Airlines including Lufthansa cautiously plan to resume some Middle East flights

> BERLIN, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Germany's Lufthansa LHAG.DE said on Thursday it was set to resume flights to and from Tel Aviv in Israel from Feb. 1, after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was announced by mediators, as carriers cautiously consider resuming flights to the region.

By Reuters · Published 16 January 2025, 14:32 SAST · Updated 16 January 2025, 14:32 SAST

## Key points
- As Western airlines tiptoe around the Middle East like it's a high-stakes game of hopscotch, Ryanair is daring to dream of summer flights to Tel Aviv while Turkish Airlines prepares to wade back into the chaotic waters of Damascus—though everyone else seems to be playing it safe with a firm "no-fly" policy.
- Western airlines have suspended flights to several Middle Eastern destinations, including Beirut and Tel Aviv, amid ongoing regional conflicts.
- Ryanair plans to resume a full summer schedule to Tel Aviv, despite the current tensions.
- Turkish Airlines announces plans to launch flights to Damascus starting January 23, marking a cautious return to the region.
- Lufthansa maintains flight suspensions to Tehran and Beirut, reflecting ongoing concerns over safety in the area.

## Content

Many Western carriers cancelled [flights](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N3L11OG&linkedFromStory=true) to swaths of the Middle East in recent months, including Beirut and Tel Aviv, as conflict tore across the region. Airlines also avoided Iraqi and Iranian airspace out of fear of getting accidentally caught in drone or missile warfare.

[Ryanair](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AS8N3MB08F&linkedFromStory=true)RYA.I said it was hoping to run a full summer schedule to and from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv in an interview with Reuters last week, before the ceasefire deal was announced.

In the wake of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, [Turkish Airlines](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3OB14O&linkedFromStory=true)THYAO.IS said it would start flights to Damascus, the Syrian capital, on Jan. 23, with three flights per week.

But airlines remain cautious and watchful before re-entering the region in full, they said.

The suspension of Lufthansa flights to and from Tehran up to and including Feb. 14 remains in place and the airline will not fly to Beirut in Lebanon up to and including Feb. 28, it said.

(Writing by Madeline Chambers and Joanna Plucinska; editing by Matthias Williams and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)