Brussels Airlines plans to resume operating 1 to 2 daily flights to Tel Aviv starting in September. Unlike in the past, the airline no longer wants to rely exclusively on volunteers for these flights and instead intends to require staff to work them through the standard scheduling process.

According to the ACV Puls union, Brussels Airlines is thereby breaking previous agreements with the unions. To increase the pressure, the union filed a strike notice on September 1.

Back to a normal flight schedule

Since August 1, Brussels Airlines has once again been flying to Tel Aviv at least once a week. However, these flights were initially operated exclusively by volunteers – staff who were either in training or held administrative positions. Many permanent crew members had refused to fly the route due to safety concerns, regional unrest, and the ethical implications of these flights.

But as of this month, Brussels Airlines has resumed service on the route with about 11 to 12 flights per week. It has also reverted to its standard scheduling procedure, which means that staff are no longer assigned solely voluntarily but can be scheduled just like for any other destination – that is, on a mandatory basis.

Industrial action may follow

However, ACV Puls believes that mandatory deployment, in the current context of the ongoing war and genocide in Gaza, not only violates previous agreements with the union but also conflicts with the employer’s responsibility to protect its staff from health and safety risks.

Consequently, the union has issued a strike notice. If Brussels Airlines does not reverse its decision, industrial action may follow. “Any disruption will be limited exclusively to flights to and from Tel Aviv,” says ACV Puls, which clearly states that it will protect any employee who does not wish to fly to a war zone.

Still a conflict zone

The union also disputes Brussels Airlines’ assessment that the situation is safe enough to resume flights. It cites the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, which continues to highlight the volatile security situation and advises against all non-essential travel to Israel and Jerusalem. ACV Puls is calling on the government to take a clear stance on commercial flights to conflict zones and on the protection of the personnel involved.

Brussels Airlines itself emphasizes that safety is always the top priority. “Together with the other airlines in the Lufthansa Group, we continue to monitor the situation on the ground closely and are prepared to adjust our procedures at any time, should that be necessary,” the airline said.

KLM and Air France are flying to Tel Aviv

The Israel issue extends beyond just Brussels Airlines. KLM, for example, has also faced similar concerns in the past, but flights to and from Tel Aviv have resumed since August 25. However, these flights include a stopover in Larnaca, Cyprus, where the crew is changed so they do not have to spend the night in Tel Aviv.

Air France also went through a turbulent period with repeated extensions of the suspension. Still, it resumed service on the route as early as the beginning of July, with a daily flight from Paris to Tel Aviv. Air France was back on the route relatively early compared to some other European airlines.

British Airways has suspended the route until at least October 25, the end of the summer season. Starting then, it plans to resume the route with a reduced service of one flight per day.

The problem hardly arises in the same way with Arab Gulf Airlines. Etihad (Abu Dhabi) remained relatively active on the route and even expanded it, while Emirates, on the other hand, withdrew completely from the route. Leapmotor now sells more than 100,000 cars a month worldwide.

Europe still accounts for a minority of that volume, but sales are growing at triple-digit rates, helped by Stellantis’ distribution network. Decisions to fly or not to fly are therefore primarily made top-down and driven purely by operational, political, and safety considerations, rather than as a labor dispute between employer and employees, because there is generally no store tradition of independent labor unions.