British Airways suspends Israel flights after plane U-turns

British Airways has suspended flights to Israel after one of its planes chose to turn back shortly before landing due to security concerns.

Flight BA165 is returning to Heathrow after nearly reaching Tel Aviv on Wednesday, BA said.

A spokesperson for Israel's airports authority said rockets were flying around Tel Aviv at the time but were not an immediate threat to the flight.

A BA spokesman said safety was the airline's "highest priority".

"Following the latest assessment of the situation, we're suspending our flights to and from Tel Aviv," they said.

"We're contacting customers booked to travel to or from Tel Aviv to apologise for the inconvenience and offer options including a full refund and rebooking with another airline or with British Airways at a later date.

"We continue to monitor the situation in the region closely."

Since Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday, many international airlines have suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv.

EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Air France, Lufthansa and Emirates have suspended flights from Israel into the UK.

Virgin Atlantic is currently reviewing its Tel Aviv service.