Israel
Ryanair to restart flights to Israel
The budget airline has announced flights between Tel Aviv and a number of European cities
April 8, 2024 16:20
By, Jewish News Syndicate
1 min read
The budget airline has announced flights between Tel Aviv and a number of European cities
April 8, 2024 16:20ByJC Reporter, Jewish News Syndicate
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair is set to resume flights between Israel and Italy, Malta, Hungary, Cyprus and other European destinations, starting on June 2.
The move comes after the decision to reopen Ben-Gurion Airport’s Terminal 1 at the beginning of June, which charges lower passenger fees than the larger and newer Terminal 3.
The Israel Airports Authority decided to halt activity at Terminal 1 after the war broke out on October 7. As a result, all flights departing from Ben-Gurion Airport currently use Terminal 3.
On February 1, Ryanair became the first low-cost carrier to resume direct flights to Israel and had no choice but to start using Terminal 3.
After failing to resolve the issue with Israeli authorities, the airline suspended services but will now be flying again from June.
Wizz Air said last week it had restarted flights to Israel from six airports in March, and planned to resume operations on further routes during the next three months. This will include the resumption of flights from Gatwick to Tel Aviv, as well as 16 other paused routes.
EasyJet restarted its services to Israel on 25 March, returning to its pre-war schedule from London Luton, Amsterdam, Berlin, Basel, Geneva and Milan.
Air Canada is also set to resume service to Israel on Tuesday.
The Montreal-based flag carrier announced the change on March 14. The initial flight schedule will include four non-stop return flights a week from Toronto in April, with three non-stop return flights a week from Toronto in May and one weekly non-stop return flight from Montreal.
“In preparation for the resumption of service, we have undertaken an extensive safety analysis, including consultations with government authorities, unions representing our flight crews, and security experts,” Air Canada said in March.
“We will continue to monitor the situation in the region and adjust our schedule accordingly.”
Other airlines that have already resumed service to Tel Aviv or will resume service soon include Azerbaijan Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Corendon Europe Airlines, Delta, easyJet, Iberia Express, KLM, LOT Polish Airlines, Smartwings and TUS Airways.
Turkish Airlines announced last week that it would continue to suspend its Israeli operations until March 2025.
Israel’s national flag carrier El Al as well as Arkia and Israir never stopped flying.