United Airlines flew into Tel Aviv on the weekend, its first flight to Israel in six months. Some experts say it may be a very short-lived renewal, and that other airlines may be forced to cancel plans to reinstate flights.
Many airlines recently announced plans to begin flying to Israel again, including Air Canada, which said it would start YYZ-TLV flights on 08JUN, 2025. But a series of deadly strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza by Israeli forces on 18MAR have thrown those plans into serious doubt.
More than 400 people were killed in early morning attacks, the largest number of one-day casualties since November, 2023 in the ongoing Hamas-Israel battle.
One former senior executive at a major airline said carriers “will have to cancel” flights to Israel given the recent attacks.
“They can’t operate if there is a risk of a missile,” the executive said. “They wouldn’t have insurance.”
“Carriers must cease operations to Israel unless they have war risk and hull liability insurance,” Robert Kokonis, president of Toronto-based AirTrav Inc., told Open Jaw. "Almost all airlines have this, but the coverage terms may restrict flight activity in war zones."
The Times of Israel on 17MAR said a number of major international carriers were set to resume services to Israel in the coming month, among them British Airways, Delta, and Ryanair. Delta Air Lines is scheduled to restart its Tel Aviv-New York route on 01APR, while British Airways is set to renew flights to TVA on 08APR, the newspaper said.
Those flights now appear to be in serious doubt.
Air Canada told Open Jaw it's monitoring the situation but that it hasn't made any changes to its plans for Israel flights.
Open Jaw has not been able to reach any airlines to confirm their status for flights to Israel.
