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TRAVEL NEWS

Major European airlines cancel dozens of flights to Tel Aviv

Major European airlines cancelled dozens of flights to Tel Aviv this weekend after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise large-scale attack against Israel.

An Air France Boeing 777 plane is seen at Paris Charles de Gaulle international airport
An Air France Boeing 777 plane is seen at Paris Charles de Gaulle international airport on September 17, 2023. Air France is one of several European carriers that has cancelled flights to Tel Aviv after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack against Israel (Photo by Daniel SLIM / AFP).

On the arrivals board at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport American Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates, Ryanair and Aegean Airlines were among those pulling flights.

However airport authorities did not stop commercial air links with Eilat, Israel’s second international airport and tourist destination on the Red Sea.

And Israeli flag carrier El Al said Sunday that it was maintaining its Tel Aviv flights for now, though some flights operated by foreign partners had been cancelled.

“We might cancel flights to places where we don’t have a lot of Israelis to help other Israelis in other places,” a spokeswoman told AFP.

In a statement, El Al added that it was operating “in accordance with the instructions of the Israeli security forces”, with all flights now departing only from Terminal Three at Ben Gurion airport.

Like most other airlines, it said clients could change their tickets without charge.

After Saturday saw a list of major carriers cancelling flights, Spain’s AENA airports operator told AFP four of nine flights scheduled to Tel Aviv on Sunday had been cancelled, two from Madrid and two from Barcelona.

Another nine flights, from Tel Aviv to airports in Spain, have so far been unaffected, the operator said.

Spain’s Air Europa said it had cancelled its two flights scheduled between Madrid and Tel Aviv, while Iberia Express, the low-cost arm of national carrier Iberia, went ahead with a Madrid-Tel Aviv flight after suspending two on Saturday.

Vueling, the Barcelona-based low-cost airline, said given the situation in Israel, “flights to/from Tel Aviv are affected and experiencing delays”.

A spokesman for Germany’s Lufthansa on Saturday cited “the current security situation” to say it was cancelling all flights to and from Tel Aviv “up until and including Monday”, adding it was monitoring the situation.

Brussels Airline, part of the Lufthansa group, also cancelled its Tel Aviv flights.

Air France said it had halted Tel Aviv flights “until further notice”.

“Commercial measures are in place, allowing customers to postpone or cancel their trip free of charge”, an Air France spokesman said.

Air France-KLM group’s low-cost carrier Transavia announced it was cancelling all flights from Paris and Lyon to Tel Aviv up to and including Monday.

Spanish airline Iberia announced that its budget subsidiary Iberia Express was cancelling its Tel Aviv flights.

Italy’s flag-carrier ITA airways cancelled its flight until Sunday morning at the earliest “to protect the safety of passengers and crew”, while Polish carrier LOT also cancelled its flights from the Polish capital on Saturday.

Other airlines suspending flights included Aegean, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Wizz Air and Air Canada.

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TRAIN TRAVEL

The new compensation rules for train delays and cancellations with Spain’s Renfe

Renfe, Spain’s national rail company, has changed the way in which you can get compensation for delays, as well as the amount of refund you are entitled to.

The new compensation rules for train delays and cancellations with Spain's Renfe

This changes will apply to Ave, Avlo, Alvia, Euromed and Intercity trains on journeys from July 1st.

This decision comes after a meeting of the company’s Board of Directors who wanted to introduce a similar commitment to punctuality as other competing companies such as Ouigo and Iryo.

But this is not necessarily good news, because now customers will only receive compensation when the delay times are greater and the amounts will be less. 

For example, up until now if an AVE train was delayed 30 minutes you would receive a 100 percent refund, now it’s only if the delay exceeds 90 minutes, a whole hour and a half delay.

What are the new refund amounts and how long do the delays have to be?

Here’s a full breakdown of the new amounts:

Until now, 50 percent was refunded for delays of more than 15 minutes and 100 percent if they were more than 30 minutes.

Now the refunds will be 50 percent for delays of more than 60 minutes and 100 percent for those that exceed 90 minutes.

This means for example that if your train is now delayed up to 45 minutes, you won’t receive any compensation from Renfe at all.

How will the new refund system work?

You will still be able to get your refund in cash or on your card, as always, but there are now other options too including greater refund amounts, depending on what you choose. These are:

  • A refund of 200 percent of the amount depending on the delay time via a new points system managed through the Más Renfe card ‘Renfecitos’. 
  • Compensation as a voucher to buy another ticket. In this case, the refund will be 150 percent of the amount for both delays of 60 minutes and those greater than 90 minutes.

If you choose the refund of the amount on your bank card, you can request it at renfe.com or at the station ticket offices and travel agencies.

If you choose the refund voucher, you can only get it online. In this case you have a maximum of three months from the date of travel to request compensation and a maximum of six months from when you have obtained the discount code to purchase the new ticket.

If you choose to be refunded with Renfe Points, you must also do this online. This option is only available for tickets purchased with a credit/debit card or cash. The points will be credited directly to your account and you have a maximum of three months from the date of travel to request compensation and a maximum of three years to use the points.

To claim delays on Avlo trains, you can do this through the automatic compensation system at www.avlorenfe.com or www.renfe.com. Compensation is paid through the same payment method as you used to purchase your ticket. You will have a maximum period of three months from the date of the trip to request it.

For compensation for delays on integrated tickets, you can apply for compensation at points of sale and customer service at the stations.

In 2023 Renfe paid out €42 million to its customers in compensation for delays. An amount that could have risen to almost €70 million if all affected users had requested compensation.

With this change, Renfe seeks to reduce the amount.

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