El Al alone on direct Israel-US routes

The giant American airline, Delta Air Lines, announced that it will not return to Israel until the end of March 2025, due to the security situation. Combined with previous cancellations by US carriers United and American Airlines, this leaves El Al as the only remaining operator of flights on the high-demand Tel Aviv-New York route.

In normal times, Delta operates daily flights from Tel Aviv to New York’s JFK. After a previous stop, it resumed flying for a short period in June and July, until military activity in the region escalated when Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran, and Hezbollah leader Fouad Saqr was killed in Lebanon at the end of 2018. July. Initially, the airline suspended its operations in Israel for only a few days at a time, then did so until after the Jewish holiday season, which ends on October 24, and now it has extended the suspension for a longer period.

The possibilities of flying between the United States and Israel via connecting flights are also narrowing, due to the cancellation of flights by European airlines, including the Lufthansa Group and British Airways, which announced an extension of the suspension of flights yesterday. Air France, ITA, KLM, and LOT. On the other hand, Europa Airlines and Bluebird have restored their services in Israel.

Due to the situation and high demand, El Al significantly expanded its flight schedule between Israel and the United States, while canceling its flights on other routes.

As previously mentioned, El Al is now the only airline operating direct flights between Israel and the United States, with 50 flights per week to JFK and Newark in New York/New Jersey, and to Boston, Miami, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale.

Since October 7 of last year, El Al has shifted its activity in South Africa, Ireland and Morocco to strengthen its activity on European and American routes.

El Al’s financial statements in the second quarter indicated that it had an 88% market share of the Israeli-American market. Since Delta canceled its flights, the percentage has increased to 100%.

Fares from Israel to the United States now start at $1,000. El Al’s financial statements show that 43% of its $670 million revenue from passenger and cargo transportation in the first half of 2024 came from flights to the United States, compared to 37% in the first half of 2023.

Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on October 22, 2024.

© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.