October 9th - Travel Implications Amidst Israel-Hamas Conflict
Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast
The Independent
3.6 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 9 October 2023
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the midst of the escalating events between Hamas and Israel, I discuss the unfolding repercussions for travellers. From recent travel advisories to how airlines are adapting, join me as I shed light on the shifting travel landscape against this backdrop.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to today's independent travel podcast with me Simon Calder and on Monday the 7th of October, the appalling conflict is continuing in the Middle East after the Hamas assault upon Israel, in which many hundreds of Israelis have |
| 0:24.1 | been killed. That is being covered at considerable length and depth by my colleagues on the |
| 0:31.6 | news desk at the Independent, but I wanted to bring you a snapshot of what is happening in terms of travel to Israel |
| 0:39.3 | because of course very popular destination with many travellers whether they are wanting to go and enjoy |
| 0:46.3 | the historic sites of Jerusalem or go and spend time on the beach in Tel Aviv, a wonderful destination which I was |
| 0:56.8 | lucky enough to visit in May, but looking very, very different now. |
| 1:05.0 | It took till Sunday, quite late on Sunday, before the Foreign Office advised against all |
| 1:10.0 | but essential travel to Israel |
| 1:11.9 | and the occupied Palestinian territories. That did take place. It has the effect of requiring |
| 1:19.4 | holiday companies with clients in Israel to bring them back as soon as possible. It also means |
| 1:25.0 | that there won't be further groups being sent out until that |
| 1:28.5 | advice is withdrawn. One of the significant operators new market says they haven't got anybody |
| 1:34.7 | there at the moment, but they are canceling all trips until Christmas. The designation by the |
| 1:42.3 | Foreign Office of effectively a no-go area means that anyone who is in Israel continues to be covered by their travel insurance as long as they make preparations to leave as swiftly and safely as possible. |
| 1:58.0 | And conversely, if you've just got a standard travel insurance policy and you choose |
| 2:05.8 | to travel to Israel, that will not be valid. Traveling to Israel is continuing. Ben-Gurion |
| 2:14.1 | International Airport, open and operational, as is a Lat Ramon Airport, although that |
| 2:21.2 | at this time if you only has domestic flights. And British Airways has been flying in and out. |
| 2:28.3 | It continues to do so. It's changed the timing of its normal daily flight, which used to go out just after 5 in the afternoon, |
| 2:37.0 | get to Tel Aviv shortly for midnight, the plane would stay on the ground, the crew would go for a night stop, |
| 2:44.0 | fresh crew would take over in the morning and it would fly back. |
| 2:49.0 | That requires a lot of crew to be in Tel Aviv to look after their |
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