FAA extends flight ban, most European airlines join

The Federal Aviation Administration has extended its ban on American carriers flying to Ben Gurion Airport for another 24 hours until 7:15 pm Israel time on Thursday, and most European carriers (with the notable exception of British Airways) have joined.

Delta, United and US Airways all cancelled their scheduled flights for Wednesday, as did a raft of European carriers including Germany's Lufthansa, Air France, Poland's LOT and others.

"We will continue to suspend flying to and from Tel Aviv ... and will continue to coordinate with the FAA to ensure the safety of our customers and employees," a United spokeswoman said.

"We plan these things conservatively," added US carrier Delta's chief executive Richard Anderson, speaking on the CNBC business news cable channel. "But we will need concrete information from our government that lets us draw an independent conclusion ... that it's going to be safe for our passengers and our employees."

Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Finnair, Iberia, Lufthansa, Air Berlin, Aegean and SAS cancelled services to Tel Aviv, as did Turkish Air. British Airways flights continued.

"At the moment there is no reliable new information that would justify a resumption of flight service," said Lufthansa in a statement.

Austrian, which carries up to 700 passengers between Vienna and Tel Aviv every day, and SAS said they would review the situation for Thursday.

Aeroflot and Romanian carrier TAROM, on the other hand, said they would resume flights Wednesday after cancelling Tuesday. Air Canada cancelled one flight on Wednesday and another Thursday.

I don't see Alitalia on the list. Hmmm.

This is a huge incentive for the IDF to take care of business ASAP.