The executive vice-president of Toronto-based tour company Peerless Travel grew up in Israel and, like many of his 60-plus staff members, maintains deep links to family and friends in his home country.
Travel operators are scrambling to rebook passengers, reroute itineraries and navigate logistical gauntlets and their own distress as the war sparked by Hamas's attack ramps up. "Travel, at the end of the day, it should be pleasurable and stress-free. So we need to make sure that we're fulfilling that mission."
The Royal Canadian Air Force completed its first airlift of Canadians on Thursday, with 128 citizens, permanent residents or their relatives landing in Athens on a military flight from Tel Aviv. A second flight with just over 150 passengers was taxiing for departure from Tel Aviv on Thursday afternoon.
A slew of carriers including United Airlines, EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Air France, Lufthansa and Emirates have suspended flights to Israel, as have American Airlines through Dec. 4 and Delta Air Lines for the rest of the month.