Lufthansa cancels flights to Beirut and Tel Aviv

The German airline Lufthansa is cancelling its flights to Beirut and Tel Aviv for the coming days due to the increasing tensions between Israel and Iran.

The suspension applies to all of the group's airlines and to cargo and passenger aircraft alike, said a company spokesman on Thursday. The Lufthansa Group also includes Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings.

Flights to Beirut have been cancelled up to and including Monday August 12. Flights to Tel Aviv will be suspended until Thursday, August 8.

Lufthansa cancelled the onward flight of an aircraft from Cyprus to Tel Aviv on Wednesday night for safety reasons. The A321 aircraft had previously landed at Larnaca Airport from Munich as planned in order to fly to Israel with a new crew, according to a company spokesman.

Lufthansa introduced stopovers in Cyprus to avoid overnight crew stays in an area of conflict and tension. The onward leg of the flight was cancelled because Iran had temporarily closed its airspace.

The security situation in the Middle East has become even more tense following the killing of two important opponents of Israel. One of the attacks, for which Iran blames Israel, took place in the Iranian capital Tehran. The Iranian leadership has threatened to retaliate.