Air Canada cancels flight to Tel Aviv over safety concerns

CTV National News: 'No-fly zone' Violence has turned the Middle East into a 'no-fly zone' with airline suspending flights to Israel indefinitely. Peter Akman reports.

Air Canada is among the airlines that cancelled a flight to Tel Aviv Tuesday after reports a rocket exploded not far from the city’s Ben Gurion International Airport.

Air Canada has cancelled flight AC 84, which was scheduled to take off from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport at 6:10 p.m. ET.

Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt said the federal government supports Air Canada’s decision.

“It’s the safety of Canadians that’s always going to be our priority in the government, but any particular questions about what’s next really belongs to Air Canada as the operator,” Raitt said Tuesday.

The airline tweeted that the return flight, AC 85, which was to take off on Wednesday, is also cancelled.

“We will continue to evaluate the situation going forward, and provide updates as needed,” Isabelle Arthur, the airline’s media relations manager, said in a statement.

Tuesday’s flight from Tel Aviv to Toronto is already in the air and will land as scheduled, the airline said.

The cancellations follow word from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration that U.S. airlines are currently prohibited from flying to the Tel Aviv.

The FAA placed a 24-hour ban on all U.S. flights to Tel Aviv starting at 12:15 pm ET Tuesday. The agency said it will issue updated guidelines “as soon as conditions permit.”

Several European airlines also suspended flights to Tel Aviv, including Lufthansa and Air France. Air Canada was the only Canadian carrier that had a scheduled evening flight into Tel Aviv leaving Tuesday.

Violence erupted in the region earlier this month after Hamas rockets began landing in Israeli territory and Israel responded with a military operation in Gaza.

Israel's Transportation Ministry called on the airlines to reverse their decisions and continue flying to Tel Aviv, insisting that the airport is safe.

"Ben-Gurion Airport is safe and completely guarded and there is no reason whatsoever that American companies would stop their flights and hand terror a prize," the department said in a statement.