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Egypt's Air Sinai halts Tel Aviv flights over security fears

By AFP
Egypt Planes sit on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International airport, near the Mediterranean Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on August 21, 2014.  By Jack Guez AFPFile
AUG 21, 2014 LISTEN
Planes sit on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International airport, near the Mediterranean Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on August 21, 2014. By Jack Guez (AFP/File)

Cairo (AFP) - Egypt's Air Sinai said it cancelled flights Thursday and Friday to Tel Aviv for security reasons, after a warning by Hamas's armed wing against foreign airliners flying to Israel.

The Egyptian carrier operates four weekly flights to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion international airport.

"The flights on Thursday and Friday were cancelled due to, the deteriorating security situation and shelling near Ben Gurion airport," said Mahmud Guda, an airline official in charge of reservations.

He told AFP that no decision has been taken about the two other weekly flights scheduled for Sunday and Monday.

A spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades Wednesday warned foreign airlines against flying into Tel Aviv from 6 am (0300 GMT) in a bid to disrupt air traffic.

Israeli airport officials said Thursday that all flights to Ben Gurion were operating normally despite the warning.

Major US and European airlines suspended flights to Tel Aviv last month for two days after a rocket landed very close to one of the runways.

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