Delta Air Lines was planning to operate its first repatriation flight on Monday from Athens, Greece, for U.S. citizens and their family members leaving Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Atlanta-based Delta is among the U.S. airlines offering such flights to assist people in leaving Israel, since suspending their flights to and from Tel Aviv after the conflict began.
The U.S. State Department began arranging charter flights Friday for U.S. citizens and their immediate family members to fly out of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport to cities in Europe, where they could then take flights back to the U.S. on airlines including Delta.
Delta announced it is adding one flight a day — Flight 9901 — on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from Athens to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Airbus A330-900 jets.
Those taking a State Department charter flight from Tel Aviv to Athens can buy seats on the flights. Delta says it has put in fare caps for the flights. Passengers can connect at JFK to other U.S. cities.
While anyone can book seats on Flight 9901 from Athens on Delta’s website, the airline asked travelers not leaving Tel Aviv for the U.S. to “refrain from booking these flights.”
Delta said it will work with the State Department and monitor bookings to determine if it needs to add more flight capacity.
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