Delta Airlines expected to resume service to Tel Aviv
The airline announced on Friday that flights will restart in April, making it the first U.S. airline to return to Ben Gurion since the cease-fire agreement
Gil Cohen Magen/Xinhua via Getty Images
People wait at the departure hall at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 28, 2021.
Days after the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas began, Delta airlines announced plans to resume flights to Tel Aviv.
Delta’s decision to restart flights to Israel comes after a 15-month hiatus in operations to the Jewish state since the war broke out in October 2023 following the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, with the exception of two brief periods in 2024.
Delta will restart daily nonstop service to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport from JFK Airport in New York on April 1, the carrier said in a statement on Friday.
“Delta’s decision to resume service follows a comprehensive security review, conducted in close coordination with government and private-sector partners,” the airline said. “The airline continues to prioritize the safety of its customers and crews and has implemented additional precautions for operations to and from Tel Aviv.” Delta extended its cancellation in October of all flights to and from Israel through March 31, citing the “ongoing conflict in the region.”
Delta did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Jewish Insider asking about the decision to hold off until April.
In June, both Delta and United began operating flights to Tel Aviv again — but suspended them by August, amid an escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
A spokesperson for United Airlines told JI that its “flights to Tel Aviv remain suspended at this time.” Before the war, United operated 28 weekly flights to Tel Aviv — 14 from New York, and the rest from various destinations in the U.S., including Chicago, Washington and San Francisco. United suspended operation on Oct. 7, 2023, and only briefly resumed in March 2024, suspending operations again when Iran fired hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel that April.
American Airlines, which has not operated flights to and from Israel since Oct. 6, 2023, told JI that it “continuously evaluates its network and [has] nothing new to share at this time regarding Tel Aviv service.”
For more than a year, Israel’s national airline, El Al, was the only consistent option for direct travel to and from America, leading to a shortage of flights to meet travelers’ demand and soaring ticket prices. The long pause has led to much debate among lawmakers and high-profile figures over whether the airlines’ decisions were influenced by internal and external political pressure.