United Airlines said that it will be the first U.S. carrier to resume flights to Israel, the Israel Airports Authority said on Wednesday in a statement.The carrier on Tuesday had earlier announced that it will resume service from Newark’s Liberty International Airport to Israel’s Tel Aviv on March 15 and add a second daily flight starting March 29.
In late January, U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines said it would restart daily nonstop service from New York to Tel Aviv on April 1.
Both U.S. carriers temporarily suspended their flights to Tel Aviv in late July 2024 amid heightening tensions in the Middle East region.
Israel’s flag carrier El Al has been the only airline operating direct flights between Israel and the United States since August 2024.
Israel’s second-largest airline Arkia would launch direct flights from Tel Aviv to New York starting from Saturday.
Several European airlines, including Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands, have recently resumed flights to Israel.
Also, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics said Israel’s tourist arrivals in January rose 34.5 per cent year-on-year, reaching 78,800, yet much lower than the 257,400 tourist arrivals in January 2023.
United Airlines would thus be the 1st U.S. carrier to resume flights to Israel.
