The Lufthansa Group has pushed the resumption of its Tel Aviv and Dubai services back to at least 31 May, according to a Reuters factbox published on 28 April. The decision affects Austrian Airlines as well as Lufthansa, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and Edelweiss. Flights to Abu Dhabi, Amman, Beirut and several other Gulf hubs remain off the timetable until 24 October. For Vienna-based travellers, the extension removes two of the carrier’s key long-haul connections at the start of Austria’s summer-holiday season. Business passengers bound for Israel or the UAE will have to route via alternative hubs such as Istanbul or Athens, potentially adding hours to door-to-door journey times. Travel-management companies report that economy-class fares on Turkish Airlines and Aegean have already spiked 18-25 percent week-on-week. Cargo shippers also face disruption: the suspended routes normally carry high-value pharmaceuticals and electronics from Austrian suppliers. Forwarders say belly-hold capacity out of Vienna to the Middle East is down almost 40 percent compared with April 2025, forcing freight onto slower road-and-sea combinations via Hamburg and Koper. Risk managers should remind mobile staff that many carriers are still overflying Iraq and Iran despite wider reroutings; employees transiting the region should review insurance coverage for war-risk zones and register itineraries with corporate security teams. Austrian Airlines is offering free re-booking or refunds for tickets issued before 15 April for travel up to 31 May.
Source: Reuters via Internazionale
