Israel Updates From Air Canada, Intrepid, Celestyal

Air Canada has temporarily cancelled flights to Tel Aviv as of Oct. 8. The carrier said that it is monitoring the situation closely and will adjust its plans as required. The airline said that it remains in contact with the Canadian government and it will resume operations to Tel Aviv as soon as the situation stabilizes.

For passengers currently have a reservation, the airline has implemented a policy that makes it possible to make voluntary changes to your itinerary the ticket was purchased no later than Oct. 6, 2023 for travel between Oct. 7 and Oct. 22, 2023 and the itinerary includes a flight to, from or via Tel Aviv (TLV).

Intrepid Extends Cancellations

Intrepid Travel has extended the cancellations of tour departures in Israel and the Palestinian Territories up until and including Oct. 31, 2023, and indicates that it is communicating this decision to all affected customers.

The tour company had already cancelled trips in Israel and the Palestinian Territories up to and including Oct. 16, 2023 and it has now extended this for the remainder of the month, as the violence in the region continues.

Intrepid said that it had a small number of travellers in Israel when violence broke out on Saturday. All travellers and tour leaders were safely accounted for and the majority of travellers left Israel over the weekend, with the remainder set to depart Oct. 9.

Zina Bencheikh, managing director EMEA for Intrepid Travel, said: “Our thoughts are with the people of Israel and the Palestinian Territories at this awful time, and we send our condolences to all those who have lost loved ones.”

While trips in Israel and the Palestinian Territories are paused, Intrepid has stressed that tour departures in neighbouring Egypt and Jordan continue as scheduled. Government travel advisories for Egypt and Jordan remain unchanged and both countries remain open for tourism.

Go to https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/travel-alerts for more.

Celestyal Temporarily Suspends Israel Calls

Celestyal is temporarily suspending calls to Israel until the end of November 2023.

The cruise company said that it is closely monitoring the situation and maintaining constant communication with the Israeli authorities following the recent events in Israel.

In a statement, Celestyal said: “Our top priority is the health, safety, and comfort of our guests, and after careful consideration we have made the necessary updates to our itineraries by temporarily cancelling our call into Israel.”

Celestyal CEO, Chris Theophilides, said: “Firstly, as a business, our thoughts are with those impacted by the events in Israel. We wish for the safety of all the souls affected and a rapid return of peace to the country. We are in close coordination with the authorities, and the safety, security, and comfort of our guests remains our upmost priority.”

Theophilides continued: “On the advice of our internal teams and the relevant authorities we have decided to temporarily remove Israel from our Three Continents itinerary until the end of November this year. Our teams will be contacting any affected customers to advise them of the updates to their itineraries and the additional provisions that have been made to ensure their continued enjoyment.”

The cruise company said that it is committed to updating all its guests and partners as the situation evolve and it will contact all affected customers and agents directly in the coming days.

The change in itinerary is valid for the below cruises:

The seven-night Three Continents cruise with departures on Oct. 21 and Oct. 28 and Nov. 4, Nov. 11, Nov. 18, and Nov. 25, 2023.

For more, go to www.celestyal.com .