Ben Gurion Airport to See Major Schedule Changes Starting November

Ben Gurion Airport is set to implement significant changes to its international flight schedules beginning in November, with some popular destinations temporarily removed from routes and others seeing increased flight frequencies. These adjustments are part of the transition to the winter schedule, which officially began on October 25th according to the IATA aviation calendar. Despite the seasonal reduction in some routes, a stabilization of the situation and high demand are contributing to an expansion of international air travel.

Low-cost carrier Wizz Air will undergo notable schedule revisions for its European routes. Flights to Larnaca will be halved from 12 to 6 weekly, and Catania flights will decrease from four to two per week. Budapest will see a reduction from three daily flights to 16 weekly, while Bratislava flights will operate five times a week instead of daily. Flights to Sofia and Krakow will be reduced to one per day. Wizz Air will also suspend all flights to Naples in November due to airport repair work, with plans to resume later at three flights per week instead of daily. Flights to the Romanian cities of Cluj-Napoca and Iasi will be suspended for the winter, except for two weekly flights during late December and early January. However, some European routes will maintain their current frequency, including Milan and Bucharest (twice daily), Athens (daily), Warsaw (five times weekly), and Vilnius (four times weekly).

Conversely, Wizz Air will significantly increase its services to the UK. Flights to London Luton will rise from 7 to 12 weekly, including the restoration of evening departures, and flights to Gatwick will increase from five to six weekly.

The Lufthansa Group will also see changes, with some carriers increasing flights. ITA Airways will add a third daily flight to Rome, and Brussels Airlines will double its flights to Brussels to six weekly. Austrian Airlines will reduce flights to Vienna from 17 to 14 weekly. SWISS will switch to Airbus A321 aircraft for its two daily Zurich flights, phasing out the larger A330s. Lufthansa will maintain its current flight frequency, and Eurowings will continue with three weekly flights to Dusseldorf.

Significant expansion is expected on routes between Israel and the United States. United Airlines will increase flights to Newark from 14 to 17 weekly, adding three overnight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flights. The airline will also reintroduce direct flights to Chicago four times a week and to Washington three times a week. A direct route to San Francisco is not expected until next summer, with El Al continuing to operate that route in the interim. Delta Air Lines will adjust its New York schedule to include overnight departures, allowing for morning arrivals at JFK and improved connections. KLM will modify its Amsterdam route to include a stopover in Bucharest and will shift its departure from Ben Gurion to around 1 AM. Transavia will increase flights to Marseille from one to three weekly as part of its winter program.

Two major international airlines are expected to return in the coming weeks: Air Canada plans to resume flights between Tel Aviv and Toronto on November 30th, and Air India intends to restore direct service to Delhi on December 1st. Additionally, Iberia and British Airways resumed flights to Ben Gurion this week after a significant break, further contributing to the gradual recovery of international air travel and expanding passenger options.