Ryanair and Transavia France are among carriers to have announced in the past few days that they will resume flights to Tel Aviv on 1 February, as more operators reverse the suspension of operations that followed the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.
While local airlines and a handful of international carriers continued to serve Israel’s main airport after the war began in October, most suspended services amid security concerns.
But with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), for example, continuing to advise that in terms of airspace security in the region, “risks are, for the time being, effectively managed and mitigated by the Israeli State authorities”, airlines are now returning to Israel in larger numbers.
Ryanair confirmed to FlightGlobal on 19 January that it will resume a reduced flying schedule to Tel Aviv from several European airports on 1 February, citing the EASA guidance and similar moves among other carriers.
Those airports are Karlsruhe/Baden Baden, Marseilles, Memmingen, Milan and Vienna, the carrier says.
Transavia France meanwhile said on 18 January that it will again link Paris with Tel Aviv from 1 February – initially twice-weekly but ramping up into March, “provided that the situation in the Middle East does not deteriorate”.
Elsewhere, Smartwings said on 17 January that it will link Prague with Tel Aviv four times a week, also from 1 February, with plans to return to daily services from March.
Those carriers join Lufthansa Group airlines, which recommenced some services earlier this month, and Air France, which is set to resume thrice-weekly connections from Paris on 24 January. Aegean Airlines has also resumed flights to Tel Aviv.
Cirium schedules data indicates that aside from Israeli carriers such as El Al, Israir and Arkia, international operators including Ethiopian Airlines, Eithad Airways, Flydubai, Hainan Airlines and Greek carrier Bluebird Airways have continued to serve Tel Aviv since the conflict began.
Other carriers that served Tel Aviv pre-war include Air Canada, British Airways, EasyJet, Emirates, Turkish Airlines, Wizz Air, Virgin Atlantic and the US majors. Several of them are also working towards tentative returns to Israel in the coming weeks and months.
While the impact of the war has been significant for local airlines, the wider industry’s capacity constraints mean most international operators have been able to reassign aircraft and crew to alternative destinations during the suspension of Tel Aviv flights, limiting the conflict’s impact at an industry level so far.
