Brussels Airlines will resume flights to Israel on 13 August 2025, planning to run two flights a week linking Brussels with Tel Aviv, as announced by the carrier. This follows Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines recommencing their flights to Tel Aviv on 1 August 2025.
Currently, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines operate flights from Frankfurt, Munich, and Vienna. From 13 August, there will be 44 weekly flights to and from Israel to Europe operated by the Lufthansa Group. In the meantime, Swiss is set to start operations to Israel from 25 September, while Eurowings is still not flying to the country and has not yet announced when it will restart its services.
“The safety and security of our passengers are our top priorities, and we continue to closely monitor the situation in the region,” reported Brussels Airlines. According to the airline, schedule changes might take place depending on recent developments and actions.
However, the decision has sparked opposition from unions and ground staff. The ACV Puls trade union, representing Belgian aviation workers, has urged airport staff to refuse to service these flights, citing the ongoing conflict in Gaza. “If politicians remain deafeningly silent about Gaza, workers will take action,” said Hans Elsen, aviation union representative at ACV Puls. He explained that employees who take part in the initiative and “refuse to cooperate in the normalisation of relations with Israel” will receive support from the union.
The representative also criticised the ongoing war in Gaza, drawing a comparison to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “When Russia invaded Ukraine, all flights to Russia were immediately cancelled,” Elsen stated. “What is possible in one conflict is apparently not possible in another.”
Similarly, baggage handlers from Alyzia, a ground handling company, have called for halting services to Israeli airline El Al and other carriers, including Brussels Airlines. According to the Belgian newspaper La Libre Belgique, representatives from the baggage handling company Alyzia have sent a letter to their management, urging the company to stop servicing Israeli airline El Al and other airlines. The handlers are calling for flights to resume only after the “genocide in Gaza and the West Bank” has ended.
The unions argue that Alyzia staff should have the choice to accept or refuse handling baggage or cargo for flights to and from Israel. “As a union, we will stand by these employees. If such work becomes mandatory, we will consider taking action,” said Niels Benoot of ACV Transcom, a Belgian trade union representing workers in the transport and logistics. Brussels Airlines, for its part, stated that the flights will be staffed by crew members volunteering for the assignment.
