There’s finally going to be some competition between Israel and the United States, as EL AL’s monopoly will be challenged…
In this post:
Arkia will fly to United States as of February 2025
Carrier Arkia Israeli Airlines will start flying to the United States. Specifically, as of February 8, 2025, the airline will fly 3x weekly between Tel Aviv (TLV) and New York (JFK). The planned schedule has a bit of variability, as follows:
IZ991 Tel Aviv to New York departing 12:00PM arriving 6:20PM [Mon, Wed]
IZ991 Tel Aviv to New York departing 11:30PM arriving 5:50AM (+1 day) [Sat]
IZ992 New York to Tel Aviv departing 3:00PM arriving 8:00AM (+1 day) [Tue, Thu]
IZ992 New York to Tel Aviv departing 4:00PM arriving 9:00AM (+1 day) [Sun]
The 5,677-mile flight is blocked at 13hr20min westbound and 11hr eastbound. For now, the service is only being sold through May, though I assume it has the potential to be extended, if it ends up being a big success (then again, perhaps the plane being used has other plans for the peak summer period).
Now, here’s where this gets especially interesting. Arkia is Israel’s second largest airline (after EL AL), and it operates a fleet of just six planes, including two Airbus A321LRs, one Embraer E190, and three Embraer E195s. As you’d expect, none of those planes have the range to operate this service.
As a result, this flight will be made possible thanks to a wet lease agreement with Iberojet, which is a Spanish-Portuguese charter airline. Specifically, an Airbus A330-900neo will be used for this route — Arkia will be marketing these flights, while it’ll be Iberojet aircraft and crew actually operating the flights.
Interestingly, back in 2016, Arkia had signed a memorandum of understanding to order four Airbus A330-900neos. However, the airline never did end up following through on that order.
Arkia is greatly undercutting EL AL on price
It goes without saying that operating flights between Israel and the United States can be lucrative. The demand is there, the problem is just being able to operate the service consistently and safely. EL AL has been operating pretty consistently since October 2023, given the carrier’s unique situation.
Not only is EL AL entirely reliant on the Israeli market to be able to stay in business, but the aircraft at the airline also have special safety features that aircraft at other airlines don’t have.
While Delta and United have tried to resume flights to Israel multiple times, the service was just too inconsistent, as it had to be pulled multiple times over safety concerns. For now, both airlines seem to have suspended the service indefinitely, for all practical purposes.
So it’s worth noting how Arkia is offering a solid value proposition on this flight. The airline is charging fares starting at $1,199 roundtrip, and that includes meals, and a baggage allowance of 20 kilograms per person.
This new service is also being launched with support from AIRTECH, a company linked to Israel’s high-tech industry hub, to help bring down the cost of travel between the two countries. Arkia isn’t the only airline that has been working on launching flights like this — Israir has been working on a similar initiative, but nothing has been finalized there just yet.
I imagine this service will be successful for the time being, at least until more competition returns to the market. Arkia has a significant disadvantage when it comes to connectivity, but the Tel Aviv to New York market is big in and of itself, especially with the limited capacity available.
Here’s how Miri Regev, Israel’s Minister of Transport, describes this development:
“I commend Arkia for positively responding to our proposal and entering the aviation market to the US and Canada. This initiative will expand the availability of flights to North America, benefiting Israeli citizens, tourists, and businessmen by providing accessible prices. The State of Israel will support airlines that choose to operate direct flights to the US, fostering real competition. This means more flights, diversified options for passengers, and lower prices.”
Bottom line
Israeli airline Arkia will be launching flights between Tel Aviv and New York, using a leased Iberojet Airbus A330-900neo. It’s nice to see some competition return to this market, since EL AL has had a monopoly. I’m curious if this service ends up lasting beyond May 2025…
What do you make of Arkia launching Tel Aviv to New York flights?
Another war criminal and genocide shuttle
Qatar Airways or Turkish?
Well- here comes anti-semite #1 -crawl back into your hole.
I mean he's right, pointing out the truth isn't antisemitic, but conflating Israel with Jews *IS*.
Be quiet. Adults are talking.
Sunset on the solstice in Tel Aviv is 19:50. Will be a bit of a rush for some observant Jews to make a 23:30 flight on Saturday with all of TLV's security screening measures. Curious to see what the load factors are for those flights in the summer.
You are aware that, during regular periods, the majority of visitors to Israel are not Jewish.....aren't you?
You're aware that "majority" is not 100% .....aren't you? You're also aware that this isn't a "regular period" .....aren't you?
Some percentage of Arkia's clientele may be unwilling to fly on that flight, so despite your snark the load factor question is a valid one.
How is Arika compared to El Al? I feel like El Al's entire market is hardcore ideological zionists or religious Jewish people because even the Israeli people I know tell me it's a miserable experience
Unless I’m misreading the information there’s a 10 minute turn time in JFK at least one day a week.
@ Christian -- Whoops, fixed that, though there does seem to be a bit of scheduling inconsistency. Even the 70-minute turn seems totally unrealistic, so not sure what to make of that...
I don't think so.... The schedule listed above seems a little bit off from what's filed...
Monday: Arrive TLV 900am Depart TLV 1200p, arr JFK 620p, overnight at JFK
Tuesday: Depart JFK 300p
Wed: Arrive TLV 900am Depart TLV 1200pm arrive JFK 620pm, overnight JFK
Thursday: Depart JFK 400pm
Friday: Arrive TLV 1000am, overnight TLV
Saturday: Depart TLV 1130p
Sunday: Arrive JFK 550am, depart JFK 300pm
Bigger question is where did they get a 3pm JFK slot from....
@ NedsKid -- Thank you, that makes a lot more sense. And yeah, that's a great question...
We won't have any way of knowing until a year from now when the FAA puts out the slot-holder/loaner list but my money is on American. Or one of the various non-US carriers that has random slots...
Looks like Iberojet's A339 is an all-coach, 388 seat affair. Would not be my first choice, but hopefully will put some pressure on El Al fares.
Also seems like security infrastructure at JFK will be costly for a 3x week service, with the wet lease adding additional complexity. I'm sure the required expertise can be outsourced, but Arkia will have to some some oversight personnel dedicated to JFK.
Hey hey!!! A flight to the holy land! This is exciting.
When is the last time AA flew this route (or any TLV route)?
There are rumors that AA cannot fly to Israel due to debts left over from TWA which AA inherited when they merged. Not sure if it's true, but they axed US's PHL-TLV flight basically the instant they merged, which lended some credence to the rumors
They last flew to TLV before the Oct 7th attacks.
When AA took over TWA, they did stop serving TLV with no notice after TWA employees in Israel were set to seize an airplane. TWA had some inflated number of employees to support one flight a day (like 150) due to Israeli labor laws that basically made it a job for life. Just about all were over age of 50 with average of 25...
They last flew to TLV before the Oct 7th attacks.
When AA took over TWA, they did stop serving TLV with no notice after TWA employees in Israel were set to seize an airplane. TWA had some inflated number of employees to support one flight a day (like 150) due to Israeli labor laws that basically made it a job for life. Just about all were over age of 50 with average of 25 years seniority thus AA owed near $18 million in severance plus ongoing pension obligations.
AA did similar suspension when taking over US because all this legal action was still outstanding. They did settle a few years ago for under 20% of the obligation. Thus they returned to Israeli.
Interesting. Thanks both.
This was a given from someone. Fares are high because El Al has been the only carrier that has been able or willing to sustain service.
A US senator says that US airlines should restart service to TLV. I would imagine his statement is backed up by knowledge of the security situation but it does seem like it is as safe as it has been since the Hamas attack.
I would bet we will see...
This was a given from someone. Fares are high because El Al has been the only carrier that has been able or willing to sustain service.
A US senator says that US airlines should restart service to TLV. I would imagine his statement is backed up by knowledge of the security situation but it does seem like it is as safe as it has been since the Hamas attack.
I would bet we will see at least DL and UA restart TLV before summer. We are undoubtedly in the final weeks of when they can viably announce summer flying.
Currently the Knesset is reviewing proposed changes to Israeli consumer protection laws that would perhaps incentivize DL/UA (and European carriers) to restart service. The current law, which has no exception for emergency situations, requires the airline to find alternate flights for a passenger if a flight is canceled within 14 days of departure. Thus, other airlines were obligated to rebook (such as on El Al) at multiples of original fare. Makes far more sense to...
Currently the Knesset is reviewing proposed changes to Israeli consumer protection laws that would perhaps incentivize DL/UA (and European carriers) to restart service. The current law, which has no exception for emergency situations, requires the airline to find alternate flights for a passenger if a flight is canceled within 14 days of departure. Thus, other airlines were obligated to rebook (such as on El Al) at multiples of original fare. Makes far more sense to just cancel longer term if you have to cancel last minute due to some security circumstance - and El Al is still operating so under the law you've got to buy your passengers tickets on El Al at extortion level prices. I believe it's 15 or so airlines that have united in this and said they won't return to Israel until the law is changed.
Couldn't the US airline fly those passengers to somewhere in Europe and then put them on a cheap connecting flight on Ryanair or easyJet?
I should add that there are a mess of claims and lawsuits already pending against all the US (and European) carriers from previous short term cancelations including hotel accommodations.
thanks for that info.
Israel will destroy its tourism industry if it doesn't fix that rule.
It is a great place to visit but will never be stable; they can't punish people that aren't interested in coming when it is stable or companies that try to serve them.
should say that Israel will never be free from threats which cause period periods of cessation of tourism
It absolutely will... It's also very suspect to have a law that says if something bad happens and you cancel flights for the next 7 days, you owe hotel and reaccom to passengers no matter the cost... and oh by the way our (now privatized but probably heavily govt influenced) national carrier is still flying and has open seats at $5000 fares so you need to fill their planes. I'm not saying that's the intent but it is not difficult to get to that logic.
no single carrier is going to offer enough capacity to support a robust tourist economy which Israel has in good times.
Israel has to indemnify foreign airlines when military activity makes it unsafe for foreign carriers to fly or when that military activity makes visitors want to stay away.
the real test will be to see if Arkia is afforded the same provisions esp. since none of their aircraft will likely have the missile protection...
no single carrier is going to offer enough capacity to support a robust tourist economy which Israel has in good times.
Israel has to indemnify foreign airlines when military activity makes it unsafe for foreign carriers to fly or when that military activity makes visitors want to stay away.
the real test will be to see if Arkia is afforded the same provisions esp. since none of their aircraft will likely have the missile protection systems that some El Al planes have.