In a stark contrast, the Lufthansa Group has announced it will resume service to Tel Aviv, Israel early next month while US carriers see no immediate plans to resume service. Indeed, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have now cancelled flights for three more months.
Lufthansa Will Be First Major International Carrier To Resume Service To Tel Aviv, Israel
The Lufthansa Group, which includes Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian Airlines, will resume service to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion (TLV) on January 8, 2024. Initially, Lufthansa will offer seven flights per week, four from Frankfurt and three from Munich.
Meanwhile, Austrian will provide eight flights per week and SWISS will provide five flights pre week.
The 20 weekly flights from the Lufthansa Group will represent about 30% of its pre-war schedule.
Tickets are bookable now. This week, the Lufthansa Group also resumed service to Beirut, Lebanon (BEY).
It was falsely reported earlier this week that United would restart services on January 9, 2024, but the carrier has refuted that report and said that its Tel Aviv service will remain suspended “until conditions permit.”
Meanwhile, American and Delta have removed Tel Aviv flights from their schedule through March 29, 2024, which represents a rather dour forecast of the next three months.
It is not clear whether these decisions are influenced more by conditions on the ground or labor relations…pilots at American Airlines made clear that they would not fly to Israel during this time.
> Read More: Union Tells American Airlines Pilots To Refuse To Fly To Israel
CONCLUSION
While Israeli carrier EL AL has maintained flights throughout the war (and even operated over the Sabbath), Lufthansa will be the first major foreign carrier to resume service to Israel. Hopefully many will follow – I look forward to returning to Israel.
image: Lufthansa
United can funnel traffic to Lufthansa until it increases. American has a pilot shortage. That leaves Delta as the only one with an incentive to fly there. It has less incentive once their El AL agreement starts.
I have no interest in visiting the apartheid state.
Truth is more complicated.
With respect, Matthew, I have a degree from the University of Oxford in the modern history of the ME and I am interviewing a former Prime Minister of Israel early next year (outside of Israel) for a thinktank which I helped set up. I have interviewed senior figures on both sides of the conflict and take a great interest in it. While I have not a shred of sympathy for Hamas or its actions on October 7, I would gently suggest that I am better qualified than most to opine on whether or not Israel is an apartheid state. It undoubtedly is. Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to a rigorous checkpoint regime. Almost all are tried in military courts, while Israelis are tried in civilian courts. In these courts, they are denied bail at a rate around 4x the rate of denial for Israelis (HRW). Settlers who terrorize innocent Palestinians, forcing them from their homes are encouraged and emboldened by the current far-right government.
Would be more than happy to discuss further with you in the spirit of friendly discussion, but in the meantime I suggest you acquaint yourself with the work of B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, or leading Israeli journalists such as Amira Haas and Gideon Levy — all of whom share my assessment set out above. I admire your work on the travel front but your takes on Israel are, again with respect, either uninformed, misleading, or both. With best wishes.
Appreciate the comment. I’ll be in touch.
Amen
European airlines can schedule turns, so crew don’t have to overnight in TLV. US/long haul airlines have to consider crew safety on the ground/overnight.
Zero interest in supporting countries that indulge in genocide..