Arkia teams up with tech initiative to launch flights to New York starting February 8

With US airlines staying away, seats scarce and fares sky-high, the Israeli airline will operate three weekly flights on the Tel Aviv-New York route for an initial three months

Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel.

Israeli airline Arkia will start operating flights from Tel Aviv to New York. (Courtesy)
Israeli airline Arkia will start operating flights from Tel Aviv to New York. (Courtesy)

Israeli airline Arkia has teamed up with TechAir, initiated by a forum of leading tech executives and investors, to launch flights from Tel Aviv to New York starting February 8, as flagship carrier El Al maintains a monopoly status on the route and US carriers are staying away.

Starting February 8, three weekly flights from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport will take off on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays.

For the new long-haul route, which will be operated for an initial period of three months, Airbus NEO 330-900 Iberojet passenger aircraft will be leased. Arkia crews will service passengers on the aircraft, the Israeli airline said in a statement on Monday.

Roundtrip tickets from Tel Aviv to New York will start at $1,199 in economy class, including luggage, seating and two meals. Tickets will be available via the Arkia sales channels. As part of the cooperation with TechAir, Arkia will reserve seats for the high-tech industry to address the demand by startups and tech firms, but did not provide details about the scope.

“This is a historic and significant day for Arkia,” said Arkia CEO Oz Berlowitz. “Launching the direct Tel Aviv-New York route is an important milestone, which shows our commitment to the Israeli public and to finding aviation solutions even in challenging times.”

Since war broke out with the Hamas terror group following the October 7, 2023, onslaught on southern Israeli communities, foreign airlines have repeatedly canceled and resumed their flights to and from Israel. In recent months, US airlines completely stopped flying to Israel amid heightened fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

That has left El Al as the only airline flying from Tel Aviv on direct routes to North America in recent months, only canceling flights when Ben Gurion Airport or Israeli airspace closes. The lack of competition has led to a severe shortage of seat availability while driving up ticket prices.

Departures hall at Ben Gurion Airport, on Sunday August 4, 2024. (Gavriel Fiske/Times of Israel)

In recent weeks, both TechAir and Arkia were gearing up to launch US flights to challenge El Al’s monopoly on routes to North America and increase seat availability.

TechAir is an initiative by the Hi-Tech Center, a forum of leading entrepreneurs, startup founders, investors and venture capital fund managers, who rely on face-to-face meetings with investors and customers located outside the country.

The initiative was born out of the need to find a response to scarce flight options and high costs that have limited business travel to the US and isolated Israel’s tech ecosystem from its main market. The group of tech entrepreneurs and investors was seeking to launch the route between Tel Aviv and New York starting January 21 with leased planes and crews.

“Israel’s resilience is built, among other things, on its economy and we sought to find a solution that would allow us to operate our companies to maintain continued growth and business activity, even in such a challenging time for everyone,” said Papaya Global CEO Eynat Guez. “We feared that business operations and activities could be seriously harmed and this cooperation provides an important response to that.”

The decision by Arkia and TechAir to team up comes after the Israeli government earlier this month committed to an assistance program to encourage Israeli and foreign carriers to operate flights to North America. According to the plan, the government will share 50 percent of the operational loss that an airline bears due to a canceled flight. The assistance will be granted to airlines that add at least two weekly flights to North America.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev welcomed Arkia’s decision, which she said will add more flights, increase the availability for passengers, including business people, to travel to North America, and help lower ticket prices.

“Israel will help airlines that choose to operate direct flights to the US, which will lead to real competition,” Regev said. “The government will share the cost of compensation for passengers due to flight cancellations, in light of the security situation, to encourage companies to increase the scope of flights.”

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