By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department will continue to offer government-sponsored charter flights from Tel Aviv for Europe to help Americans depart through at least Sunday, a department spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.
The department said Monday that nearly 1,000 U.S. citizens and family members have departed Israel on State Department-sponsored charter flights to Athens and other transport options since Friday after offering more than 4,000 seats.
The State Department has said flights have generally departed at half capacity or less. The department had previously only committed to offering charter flights through Thursday.
A U.S.-chartered Royal Caribbean ship on Monday left Haifa and arrived in Cyprus. The ship had room for 2,200 people and transported 150 Americans and their immediate family, the department said Tuesday. The department offered Americans onward transportation to Vienna from Cyprus.
U.S. airlines have added flights to Athens and boosted the size of planes to accommodate Americans flying from Israel seeking to return home after fighters from Hamas burst across the barrier to Israel on Oct. 7, gunning down 1,300 Israelis, mainly civilians.
The State Department said over 3,000 U.S. citizens have also told the department they have successfully departed Israel and the West Bank in a variety of ways.
The state of Florida and a nonprofit group partnered to charter a flight and helped 270 more Americans return from Israel, Governor Ron DeSantis said Monday.
United Airlines, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines all temporarily halted direct flights to Israel.
More than 30 U.S. lawmakers on Friday wrote the three airline CEOs urging them to resume flights to Tel Aviv “as quickly as possible.”
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma told airlines last week the U.S. government had received roughly 17,000 inquiries about travel assistance leaving Israel.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
