Major Airlines Resume Flights to Israel Amid Route Expansion

British Airways and Iberia, both part of the International Airlines Group, restarted daily services to Tel Aviv. British Airways resumed flights from London Heathrow, with the first return flight to London scheduled for Monday morning. Iberia Express resumed daily flights to Madrid, returning to the Israeli market after suspending operations in August 2024 due to security escalations.

El Al reinstated direct flights between Tel Aviv and San Francisco on Sunday, ending a six-and-a-half-year hiatus that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Ice, El Al will also restart direct flights to Washington Dulles International Airport on October 28. Additionally, United Airlines is scheduled to resume direct flights to Chicago and Washington, D.C., starting Monday, October 26, according to Panet and Cursorinfo.

Domestically, Air Haifa launched a new service between Tel Aviv and Eilat on Sunday. Operating from Terminal 1 at Ben Gurion International Airport, the airline scheduled two daily flights using ATR 72-600 aircraft, with each flight lasting approximately one hour.