Several Airlines Signal Their Return to Israel

DALLAS — Over the last few weeks, several foreign airlines have announced the resumption of scheduled services to Israel. 

As a result of the ceasefire, up to 14 airlines have signaled their intention to restart flights to Israel. This will translate into hundreds more weekly flights to Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV). 

European Airlines

The announcements of resumed services began with low-cost carriers Wizz Air (W6) and Ryanair (FR), followed by easyJet (U2). These carriers will reintroduce their services between Europe and Israel. 

The Lufthansa Group (LH) has also indicated that it will soon relaunch flights to Israel. This will improve connectivity between Israel and major European cities such as Amsterdam (AMS), Frankfurt (FRA), Munich (MUC), and Vienna (VIE). 

Other major European airlines, such as British Airways (BA) and Air France (AF), have also stated that they intend to restart scheduled services shortly. KLM (KL) and Iberia (IB) are also scheduled to return to Israel within two months, but they have not officially announced a restart date.

North American Carriers

Connectivity between Israel and the United States is expected to ramp up significantly in the weeks ahead. Delta Air Lines (DL) has said it will return in April. United Airlines (UA) has not spelled out an exact date for the resumption of its services, but it is possible that the airline could return as early as February.

Air Canada (AC) and American Airlines (AA) have not stipulated the dates to resume flights to Israel. Restarting long-haul services is more complex for US-based airlines, making it difficult for them to have the operational flexibility that many European airlines have. 

Aviation analysts believe there is a shortage of between 12-15 weekly flights from Israel to destinations in the US. That said, two airlines will operate services to North America. Israel’s Arkia (IZ) will operate three weekly flights to New York starting in February. And DL will resume flights to TLV in April. 

Flying to Asia

Air India (AI) has also announced that it intends to resume flights to Israel in March. Since it halted services last August, there have been no direct flights between Israel and India, forcing travelers to fly to the East via the UAE or Europe.

Air India’s flights should also improve connectivity to East Asia, with Delhi (DEL) being a hub for connecting flights.

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