In October 2023, we saw most international airlines discontinue flights to Israel over safety concerns, following the Hamas terror attacks, and subsequent conflict. Ever since, we’ve seen foreign airlines take an “on again, off again” approach to service, based on the constantly evolving security situation. They want to fly to Tel Aviv, given that it’s a lucrative market, but they also have to take precautions.
United recently resumed one route to Israel, and now the airline has announced plans to resume two additional routes, after a suspension of around two years.
In this post:
United currently flies from Newark to Tel Aviv
For context, since July 21, 2025, United has been operating twice daily nonstop flights between Newark (EWR) and Tel Aviv (TLV). The flights operate with the following schedule:
UA84 Newark to Tel Aviv departing 3:30PM arriving 8:55AM (+1 day)
UA85 Tel Aviv to Newark departing 11:00AM arriving 3:45PM
UA90 Newark to Tel Aviv departing 10:50PM arriving 4:20PM (+1 day)
UA91 Tel Aviv to Newark departing 11:25PM arriving 4:10AM (+1 day)
Both frequencies are operated by Boeing 787-10s, featuring 318 seats, configured with 44 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, and 253 economy seats. The 5,685-mile flight is blocked at around 11 hours eastbound and around 12 hours westbound.
This is the only route to Israel that United has flown since October 2023, as the route has been operated whenever possible, but has also repeatedly been suspended.
United plans Chicago & Washington to Tel Aviv flights
For the first time since October 2023, United has announced plans to resume two additional routes to Tel Aviv:
- As of November 1, 2025, the airline will fly 4x weekly from Chicago (ORD)
- As of November 2, 2025, the airline will fly 3x weekly from Washington (IAD)
As Patrick Quayle, United’s SVP of Global Network Planing and Alliances, describes this, “the resumption of these flights underscores United’s longstanding commitment to Tel Aviv.” United emphasizes how service to Tel Aviv always follows a detailed assessment of operational, safety, and security considerations in the region.
United has flown more to Israel than any other US airline, and will continue to do so. At this point, the only route that hasn’t been resumed is out of San Francisco (SFO). Delta currently exclusively flies to Tel Aviv out of New York (JFK), though has the benefit of having a partnership with EL AL.
The timing for United resuming more Israel flights makes perfect sense, given that November starts to be the really quiet season for wide body flying for US carriers. We’ll see if these flights actually operate, since there hasn’t exactly consistently been peace in the region.
Bottom line
In late July 2025, United resumed flights to Israel, with its Newark to Tel Aviv flight. Now the airline has announced that as of early November 2025, it’ll resume flights from Chicago and Washington to Tel Aviv. This will be the first time since October 2023 that United operates multiple routes to Tel Aviv, so that just leaves the San Francisco service as not having resumed.
Of course this all assumes that we don’t see the conflict escalate in a way that impacts the ability of US carriers to fly to Israel, as we’ve seen several times before.
What do you make of United expanding Israel flights?
What's taking AA so long to reinstate JFK-TLV?
Not going to fly United or any US metal that flies to Israel.
Free Palestine
Stop the genocide
Grow up.
Butbutbut DL is totally increasing frequencies ATL to Florida. Winning!!!
DL is also increasing flights to TLV.
and, yes, DL is still far larger than UA in Florida.
Can you work a little harder at controlling yourself?
Tim, UA is larger than DL in IL, TX, CA, CO, and DC/Virginia. What’s your point?
UA is also larger than DL in terms of airline revenue, profits from airline operations, larger across the Atlantic, larger across the Pacific, larger in fleet size, larger in ASMs.
So, again, what’s your point? Do you want to start cherry picking regions of the world where one carrier is larger than the other.
That sounds exhausting....
Tim, UA is larger than DL in IL, TX, CA, CO, and DC/Virginia. What’s your point?
UA is also larger than DL in terms of airline revenue, profits from airline operations, larger across the Atlantic, larger across the Pacific, larger in fleet size, larger in ASMs.
So, again, what’s your point? Do you want to start cherry picking regions of the world where one carrier is larger than the other.
That sounds exhausting. Can we just agree UA is larger than DL and save us all some time?
IOW, you and others love to talk about how big UA is but can't stand to hear where UA is not larger.
and, even more, you come unglued when I accurately note that DL makes more money not just for every ASM across most of its network compared to its US peers, including UA, but does so on the bottom line not just per ASM but also if we exclude credit card revenue, a revenue...
IOW, you and others love to talk about how big UA is but can't stand to hear where UA is not larger.
and, even more, you come unglued when I accurately note that DL makes more money not just for every ASM across most of its network compared to its US peers, including UA, but does so on the bottom line not just per ASM but also if we exclude credit card revenue, a revenue source that UA failed to realize is dependent on the US market and not flying foreigners to the US.
Can you just accept that DL and UA are both well-run companies and for you to put your "tools" back in your pants and admit where DL really runs a better airline and business?
It is exhausting having to incessantly correct your cherrypicking just to hold onto your claims of superiority because your, not my, identity is wrapped up in a corporation
LOL. I didn’t bring it up. I don’t care. I’m just pointing out that your point isn’t saying what you think it does.
UA is smaller than BA in LHR.
UA is smaller than QF in SYD.
UA is smaller than AA in DFW.
Is that what you want to hear? Should we just point out regions of the world where one carrier is larger than another?
except it is you that are incessantly fixated on size.
Did some part of your body not get enough hormones at some time in your life?
it would be nice if you could learn the word "different" and that different can indeed be better.
Serious question, are these routes high yield enough that United is willing to risk having to reassign these expensive aircraft on short notice to alternative markets when the next conflict inevitably occurs?
“Subsequent conflict”
You misspelt genocide, Ben. Once again trying to cover Israeli war crimes. History will judge you. Free Palestine.
Go cry your crocodile tears for the starving people of Sudan, the Uighers who are stuffed into Chinese re-education camps and the millions starving in Africa. Go free your mind from TikTok poisoning.
Take your radical Islamic terrorist propaganda elsewhere. History will judge you. Am Yisrael Chai.
If Israel wanted to "genocide" the Gazans; and there are reasonable arguments as to why they probably should have just gotten it over and done with in the first place; they could have accomplished it in the course of an afternoon with their nuclear weapons arsenal, or in a couple of weeks with heavy conventional bombardment and a ground invasion.
Don't be ridiculous.
"the dogs bark the caravan passes"
old Arab adage
Given the amount of money we give Israel it might as well just become the 54th state after Canada, Greenland and Mexico.
You are aware, are you not, that over 80% of the money that the USA 'gives' to Israel is earmarked for expenditure on US military hardware? No? I thought not.
If TLV service is so lucrative, I wonder why DL only offers 1 daily JFK-TLV service ?
Delta is increasing TLV service in November to 2x daily
They also plan to resume service to Atlanta.
the chances are fairly high that DL will launch a joint venture with El Al. Having UA as the larger US carrier adds credibility to a DL-LY JV.
This reminds me of American's Facebook page. For years, they had this crank who would comment under EVERY post, and say the same tired old thing. "WHEN was AA going to launch flights to TLV, preferably out of NYC, please and thank you?" There was a PHL-TLV flight at some point, but he didn't want that one, and didn't think it should exist. He'd rant and rave under Christmas messages, and stories about new aircraft...
This reminds me of American's Facebook page. For years, they had this crank who would comment under EVERY post, and say the same tired old thing. "WHEN was AA going to launch flights to TLV, preferably out of NYC, please and thank you?" There was a PHL-TLV flight at some point, but he didn't want that one, and didn't think it should exist. He'd rant and rave under Christmas messages, and stories about new aircraft or a retiring stew, always the same pasted script. The dude was a fanatic, and I hope it got him placed on a do-not-fly list.
This is wonderful news!
No suprise United is already back to 2x daily service from EWR-TLV, it is reportedly one of their best perfoming in the system.
If you recall when airlines only operated skeleton flights during Covid, EWR- TLV continued to operate.
These start dates make very little sense -- they come after the high-demand period of the Jewish holidays.
Any thoughts on when UA might resume sfo-tlv?
That route is complicated by the unavailability of Russian airspace for overflight.
No it is not
UA stew here who has flown many round trips SFO-TLV-SFO. We do not overfly Russia on that route. So that isn’t the issue.
LY6 from LAX to TLV passes over Canada,, the southern tip of Greenland, then W Europe. It goes nowhere near Russian airspace and the route looks pretty direct to me.
Free Palestine
Wow, your comment did it -- Gaza is free from Hamas now!
(On a related note, how is that boycott movement working out?)
Hamas is not the problem, the genocidal Israeli state is. And one day justice will be served. Now go cry by yourself, fascist.
Hamas is not the problem, the genocidal Israeli state is. And one day justice will be served. Now go cry by yourself, fascist.
What is Palestine?
It's a mythical place, like Narnia or Walden. Don't worry about it.
Palestine is the land that has existed for thousands of years… “Israel” has only existed for 80 and is the magical, mythical place you’re thinking of. And don’t worry fascist, when the tide turns, we will come for all of you, and we won’t spare any one of you genocidal freaks. Think the Nuremberg trials were bad? You ain’t seen nothing.
Your knowledge of the history of Isreal is as weak as your support for the barbarous Hamas terrorist. However, your insanity is as real as your complete lack of understanding of the English language.
It's not genocide, it's pest control.
You can't rewrite history, history is stuff that already happened.
So based on history (Stuff that happened), Palestine is not a land that has existed for thousands of years… If it would be, it would be history, but it never was.
I love how US airlines pretend that flying into TLV, the airport with probably the most comprehensive security cover on the planet, is some sort of a security achievement.
In before the "why would United launch service to a genocidal state?!?!?" comments!!!! :)))))))
United flies to the separatist state of the People's Republic of China. It also flies to Vietnam. Both are bad actors.
Is it actually commercially viable? Strange
Of course it is. World beyond TikTok exists!
Pre-10/7, Israel was among the hottest/most profitable routes.
El Al and the big 3 couldn't added new routes fast enough
Even for most of the last 2 years, it hasn't really been a drop in "demand" so much as it has been a drop in supply over safety concerns. Those planes which were flying were doing so with astronomically high load factors and sky high fares
Nah, they only fly because of AIPAC's influence on the US government
So Tim, is that something akin to the gun lobbyist who spend so much time and effort influencing the U.S. government?
What’s good for the goose should also be good for the gander, yes?