Airlines flock back to Israel with resumed services in coming month
1st United Airlines flight arrives from New York; British Airways, Ryanair, Delta, Iberia, Air Baltic carriers set to restore operations, with others to follow later in the year
A number of major international carriers are set to resume services to Israel in the coming month — among them British Airways, Delta, and Ryanair — after a first United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Saturday, with a return flight leaving later that day.
Since the war broke out with Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the Palestinian terror group’s October 7, 2023, campaign of slaughter and mass abduction in southern Israel, foreign airlines have repeatedly canceled and resumed their flights to and from Israel.
The ongoing situation — which included rocket and drone attacks from Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and Iraq, plus two large missile barrages from Iran — has led to Israeli airlines, chiefly El Al, operating at a near-monopoly and setting sky-high ticket prices.
But recently the fighting halted amid a ceasefire with Hamas that was reached in January, several months after the fighting ended in Lebanon, leading some airlines to declare that they would resume flights.
Delta Air Lines is scheduled to restart its Tel Aviv-New York route on April 1. American Airlines has not yet announced a return of its Israel service.
Irish budget carrier Ryanair will renew flights on March 30, and Air Baltic will begin three weekly flights to Riga from April 2.
British Airways will fly daily from April 5.
Iberia and Italian carrier Neos are also to resume flights in the coming months.
Dutch carrier KLM will have flights serving Israel from June, as will European budget carrier EasyJet, with flights to and from a number of locations.
Air Canada will operate four flights a week starting June 8.
The boost in services comes as Israel braces for what is expected to be its busiest travel month in recent years this April, which includes the weeklong Passover holiday.
Next month there are expected to be 1.8 million travelers passing through Ben Gurion, the main international gateway, a jump of 65 percent compared to April last year, according to Israel Airports Authority figures published Sunday.
The heaviest day will be April 10, when some 80,000 flyers are set to pass through the airport.
In total, some 50 airlines will operate flights to and from Israel next month.
March is already predicted to end with 1.4 million passengers moving through the airport, up 60% over last year.
Terminal 1, which in recent years was overshadowed by the larger, modern Terminal 3, has undergone a major upgrade and will take on more international flights.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev said in a statement that “the Israel aviation system is getting back on track with the opening of the skies for wide traveler traffic.”
“The opening of Terminal 1, the return of dozens of carriers and the records expected on Passover are part of our efforts to ensure easy, safe, and accessible flights for the public,” Regev said in a statement.
Terminal 1 will see some 1,400 flights during April, about a fifth of the total traffic via Ben Gurion, according to the IAA.
