Flight carrying South Koreans from Tel Aviv arrives home
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Stranded travellers wait to be booked on a flight at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
INCHEON – A flight carrying around 192 South Koreans from Tel Aviv arrived at Incheon Airport in South Korea on Wednesday after a surprise attack by Hamas militants on Israel over the weekend forced airlines to suspend flights to and from Israel.
Some 560 South Koreans were staying long term in Israel while more than 500 were staying short term, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Park Jin said during a parliamentary audit on Tuesday.
The Ben Gurion Airport was “crowded” and “hectic”, said Ms Jang Jeong-yoon, a 62-year-old who was on board the Korean Air flight home after travelling to Israel to take part in the festival of Sukkot.
“As flights were cancelled or delayed, there was fear and people were rushing to leave the country,” she said.
Some relatives of those on board the plane were seen waiting at Incheon Airport early on Wednesday morning.
No South Korean casualties had been reported, the foreign minister said on Tuesday. Many of the short-term South Koreans travellers were visiting the country for a pilgrimage.
A Turkish Airline flight on Thursday will also bring 30 South Koreans home, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Korean Air has cancelled flights departing from Incheon to Tel Aviv on Monday and Wednesday and expects future flights to be irregular. REUTERS