Israir set for New York-Tel Aviv route amid regional challenges

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Israir set for New York-Tel Aviv route amid regional challenges

Policy

Miri Regev Israeli Transportation Minister | Wikipedia

By Sky Industry News

Jul 23, 2025

Israeli low-cost airline Israir has been authorized to operate flights between Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport and New York, becoming the third Israeli carrier to do so. However, Israir will need long-range aircraft as it currently uses Airbus A320 planes. The airline plans to start flights by Passover 2026 or earlier.

The operating environment in the Middle East remains unpredictable, leading to frequent flight cancellations. Despite this, Israir aims to add capacity on the route, especially when U.S. airlines are not flying. United Airlines is expected to resume service to Tel Aviv next week.

Israir received a temporary license from the U.S. Department of Transportation in April and intends to offer up to six weekly flights each way once operations begin. However, starting flights in 2025 seems unlikely due to delays in leasing an Airbus A330.

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Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev commented, "This is an important step to strengthen competition, lower prices, improve service, and expand options for the public."

This marks a return for Israir after suspending its New York route in 2008 due to economic reasons. Currently, El Al operates 52 weekly flights from Tel Aviv to various U.S. destinations while Arkia offers five weekly flights to New York.

Arkia began flying with an A330-900 wet-leased from Iberojet but now uses an A330-200 from Bulgaria’s GullivAir.

U.S. carriers have had irregular operations since October 2023 due to regional instability but United Airlines will return on July 21 with two daily flights from Newark using Boeing 787-10 aircraft.

Delta Air Lines resumed its Tel Aviv-New York-JFK route on April 1 but suspended it multiple times since then. American Airlines halted its Tel Aviv services in October 2023 and has yet to resume them.