As major airlines continue to cancel flights scheduled to travel to Tel Aviv this week, the ongoing violence between Israeli forces and Hamas militants is also prompting one entertainment company to suspend shows in the troubled region.
On Wednesday, promotion company Shuki Weiss announced on its website that a slate of performances by Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil has been postponed until 2015. The Cirque du Soleil show 鈥淨uidam鈥� was scheduled to run at Tel Aviv鈥檚 Nokia Arena, from Aug. 6-21.
The promoters bringing the acrobatic show to Tel Aviv cited safety concerns as the reason for the postponement.
鈥淯nfortunately it is impossible to secure the safety of the ensemble and the audience at this time,鈥� Marek Lieberberg and Shuki Weiss said in a joint statement. 鈥淗ence we have no choice but to look forward to an alternative and peaceful period to return to Israel as soon as we can.鈥�
Meanwhile, U.S. and Canadian air travel to the region continues to be impacted due to safety concerns.
Air Canada has cancelled another flight to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, as well as a return flight from Ben Gurion airport on Thursday.
Flight AC84, which was scheduled to leave Toronto鈥檚 Pearson International Airport Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. local time, has been cancelled, the airline said in a statement. The return flight, AC85, which was scheduled to leave Tel Aviv on Thursday is also cancelled.
鈥淲e will continue to evaluate the situation going forward, and provide updates as needed,鈥� airline spokesperson Isabelle Arthur said in a statement.
The airline cancelled the same two flights on Tuesday following reports that a rocket exploded about a kilometre from Tel Aviv鈥檚 Ben Gurion International Airport.
The latest flight cancellations come shortly after the U.S. Federation Aviation Administration extended its ban on all U.S. airline flights into Tel Aviv for another 24 hours 鈥渄ue to the potentially hazardous situation created by the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza.鈥�
The agency is working with Israeli officials and reviewing intelligence information to 鈥渄etermine whether potential risks to U.S. civil aviation are mitigated so the agency can resolve concerns as quickly as possible,鈥� according to a statement.
Several European airlines have also cancelled flights to Tel Aviv, including Lufthansa and Air France.
Israel鈥檚 national airline, El Al, continues to fly. A spokesperson for the airline said all scheduled flights from Pearson to Tel Aviv are expected to fly. A flight from Tel Aviv landed early Wednesday morning at Pearson, and a return flight was scheduled to take off at 1 p.m.
John McGraw, former deputy director of the FAA鈥檚 flight standards service, says the U.S. aviation agency, as well as each airline, all have security teams that assess risks at different airports. They look at international intelligence reports, speak to authorities at airports of concern, and then make decisions about cancelling or banning flights.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more of an art than a science,鈥� McGraw told CTV鈥檚 Canada AM on Wednesday. 鈥淪o they have to make a lot of judgments about what they鈥檙e facing day to day.鈥�
Airlines are likely 鈥渁 little hypersensitive鈥� right now, he said, because of last week鈥檚 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 by a surface-to-air missile.
In the case of Tel Aviv, the 24-hour flight restriction is 鈥渆vidence of how the FAA is trying to balance the risks presented by some of the rockets and other activities there against the economic impact of having that kind of restriction in place.鈥�
