Delta and United Resume Flights to Israel, Boosting Competition
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines are resuming flights to Israel this week, collectively operating three daily flights to New York. Delta will offer a daily flight between New York and Tel Aviv, utilizing an Airbus A330-900neo, with its first flight departing New York on September 6. United will recommence operations two days later with two daily flights between Newark and Ben Gurion Airport, leveraging its extensive domestic network for connecting passengers.
These additions significantly increase competition for El Al on the lucrative New York route, which has seen limited competition from Israeli carriers in recent times. El Al reported strong second-quarter earnings, with revenues of $986 million, a 27% increase, and net profit doubling to approximately $132 million. American Airlines, however, has postponed its return to Israel until March 2027.
The influx of seats from Delta and United is expected to impact airfares, though the effect may not be immediate due to high demand around the High Holidays. Current round-trip ticket prices for September range from around $2,200 on El Al. By October, prices drop to approximately $1,240, and in November, they start around $1,350, with further variations based on flight dates, demand, and seat availability. Flights with layovers are also available in the $1,000-$1,300 range.
Looking ahead, Israir plans to join the New York route in October with an Airbus A330, potentially bringing the total number of direct carriers between Israel and New York to five, including El Al, Arkia, Delta, and United. Meanwhile, European routes are also seeing increased activity, with KLM returning to the Amsterdam-Tel Aviv route and the Lufthansa Group expanding its weekly flights from 54 to 67 in September. Wizz Air is restarting flights to Cluj-Napoca, and Transavia is resuming service to Marseille and Lyon.
Despite these increases, overall activity at Ben Gurion Airport remains below pre-war levels. Several airlines, including American Airlines and Air Canada, are not expected to return until 2027, and Ryanair and EasyJet have yet to restore their previous operational scale, impacting competition and prices on European routes.
