Israel flights: All the European airlines resuming services to Tel Aviv and when they start

The surprise attack on Israel by Hamas in October 2023 saw the tourism industry shut down almost overnight. Governments around the world issued warnings to their citizens not to travel to the Middle Eastern country, and airlines cut their services.

But with a historic ceasefire deal agreed, hopes are high that getting to and from Israel will start to become a lot easier.

Several European airlines have already announced the resumption of their services to Tel Aviv, although rather cautiously. Here are the announcements so far.

As the dust settles on the ceasefire agreement, European airlines are already preparing to reinstate their flights to Israel.

According to OAG data, European airlines have already scheduled Israel flights through the spring, adding hundreds more to the route. By mid-May, there will be over 1,200 flights a week to Tel Aviv, up from less than 850 this week.

US airlines, on the other hand, have been slower to return. None of the ‘big three’ - Delta, American and United - have yet publicised new flights.

“Every airline will be keen to return to the market as soon as possible while complying with the necessary advisories,” said John Grant, partner at Midas Aviation, an analytics company. “Airlines operating shorter sectors will be easier to find than those from the United States for instance.”

Grant added that availability of aircraft was a key factor in the quicker return of European airlines.

Two of the early movers in Europe are Germany's behemoth Lufthansa Group and Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air.

Wizz Air suspended its flights to Israel in October 2023, pulling more than 270 weekly services from its schedule. Ahead of the ceasefire, it began slowly reinstating its services on 15 January, with connections