Air France Flight To Tel Aviv Diverts Back To Paris
Intro
A couple of days ago, an Air France flight scheduled from Paris Charles De Gaulle to Tel Aviv diverted. Ordinarily, with the situation ongoing in Israel, we have seen plenty of diversions due to the conflict. However, the reason for the AF958 diversion was certainly different.
The Details
Multiple airlines have pulled out of Tel Aviv recently, but Air France offers daily flights. On the 26th of September, a three-year-old A350 was operating a standard flight to Tel Aviv when the decision was made to divert just 200 miles away from Tel Aviv.
In a situation like this, you would imagine that they would have diverted to a nearby airport, as most flights would never fuel enough for a return journey. Well, as fate would have it, it seems that Air France fuels enough for a return leg when flying to Tel Aviv, perhaps another reason why they don't operate an A320 over there.
What Caused The Diversion, And Why Paris?
Supposedly, this diversion had nothing to do with the conflict in Israel; instead, it was a technical incident affecting the aircraft. I presume that Air France didn't want the plane to spend a lot of time on the ground in Tel Aviv, and with enough fuel to return to Paris, the flight deck decided to head back.
While this diversion certainly wasn't pleasant for the passengers, I imagine that passengers were re-booked on the flight that departed the day after. Of course, this diversion was extremely costly for the airline in terms of fuel and EU261 compensation. Although I have to wonder how full these flights are to Tel Aviv at the moment, as checking expert flyer (not always accurate), I see about 2/3 full for flights the next day.
Final Thoughts
An Air France flight operating as AF958 made the decision to divert all the way back to Paris when it was only 200 miles from Tel Aviv due to a technical issue onboard. While this is certainly costly for the airline, it seems that this was the smartest decision, especially considering that they fuel their planes extra for this route.
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