After months of cancellations, uncertainty, and reduced foreign airline activity, Ben Gurion Airport is seeing a broader recovery. More international carriers are announcing returns to Israel, a move expected to expand flight supply, reopen popular destinations, and restore some of the competition that disappeared from the market in recent months.
The gradual comeback is tied to a relative easing in the security situation and updated assessments by the airlines, allowing them to restart routes to Israel during the summer travel season. Industry sources say the trend is an important step toward Ben Gurion Airport's recovery and toward lower pressure on the Israeli aviation market.
The airlines and dates announced so far are: Canut Shark on June 25, with flights to Tashkent and Samarkand; Air Europa on June 29, with its direct Tel Aviv-Madrid route; Lufthansa on July 1, with flights to Frankfurt and, expected on August 1, Munich; ITA Airways on July 1, with direct flights to Rome; Air Baltic on July 1, on the Tel Aviv-Riga route; One Click on July 2, to Tbilisi and Batumi; Eurowings on July 10, to Hamburg and on July 18 also to Düsseldorf; Fly One Romania on July 19, to Bucharest; and Swiss on August 1, to Zurich.
The aviation industry sees the return of foreign airlines as especially positive because it should increase the number of available seats and gradually bring back fare competition. If the security situation does not change, the coming months could mark a much broader reopening of Israeli aviation after a period in which travelers had to rely on a limited number of airlines and destinations.
