United Airlines resumes flights to Israel, Delta follows suit for first time since Oct 7

7 June 2024, 11:42 am

4 Edit

An Airbus A220 is sprayed as part of deicing training for Delta Air Lines employees in preparation for winter weather at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, September 6, 2023. (AP/Abbie Parr)

Delta Airlines and United Airlines have resumed flights to and from Israel for the first time since the October 7 Hamas terror assault and subsequent war in Gaza.

United Airlines resumed its Newark-Tel Aviv service on Thursday, with daily flights that, according to reports, it hopes to increase to twice-daily later in the month.

The airline briefly renewed flights in March, only to suspend them again a month later due to Iran’s unprecedented direct attack on Israel.

Following suit a day later, Delta Airlines has now resumed its direct flights to Israel, which will depart once a day from New York’s JFK airport.

The route will be flown on an Airbus A330-900neo, allowing for close to 2,000 people to travel with the airline to Israel each week.

“The decision to resume the route on June 7, 2024, which was temporarily suspended in October 2023, follows an extensive security risk assessment by the airline,” the airline says. “Delta continues to closely monitor the situation in Israel in conjunction with government and private-sector partners.”