El Al to launch direct flights to Tokyo in March

Travel time to be reduced to 11 hours from Tel Aviv, 12.5 on return leg; 40,000 Israelis visited Japan last year

By ToI Staff 29 May 2019, 6:45 pm Edit

A couple takes photos around Odawara Castle, southwest of Tokyo, Japan, during the blooming of the cherry blossoms, March 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Israel’s national airline, El Al, announced Wednesday that it will be offering direct flights to Tokyo from March 2020.

The new non-stop flights — three per week — will use the company’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

Outgoing flights are expected to take 11 hour and 15 minutes, with return flights taking a little longer — 12.5 hours.

This will mean considerably shorter travel times for tourists and business people who currently have to make a stop on the way and spend anything from 16 to more than 24 hours getting to Japan.

40,000 Israelis visited Japan last year and half that number of Japanese tourists came to the Jewish state.

El Al has not disclosed how much it will be charging for the new route.

Prices offered by other companies for a round-trip flight between Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and Narita International Airport in Tokyo currently start at around $700.

El Al recently launched flights to San Francisco, Nice, and Manchester.

It is expected to begin direct flights to US destinations Las Vegas, Orlando and Chicago.