As of September 2025, we saw Delta resume its New York (JFK) to Tel Aviv (TLV) route, a service that has been operated on again and off again for the past couple of years. Up until now, we haven’t had any official details on when other routes to Tel Aviv would resume, but now we know…
In this post:
Delta will add two more Israel routes in 2026
In 2026, we’ll see Delta resume two other routes to Israel, and we now know exactly when it’ll happen:
- As of April 15, 2026, Delta will resume 3x weekly flights from Atlanta (ATL), using Airbus A350-900s
- As of October 24, 2026, Delta will resume daily flights from Boston (BOS), using Airbus A330-900neos
For context, these were both pretty recent additions. The Atlanta route first launched in March 2023 (after a suspension of over a decade), while the Boston route first launched as of May 2022.
For now this is just being reported in Israeli media, and the schedules haven’t yet been published. However, the flights should be on sale soon, and politicians are even providing statements about these flights. For example, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said the following:
“I want to thank Delta for resuming the direct route between Atlanta and Tel Aviv, which reconnects the state of Georgia with one of our strongest allies. This flight is important to many residents of our state and further strengthens the cultural and economic ties between Georgia and Israel.”
How Delta’s Israel service compares to the competition
With Delta now flying from New York to Tel Aviv (and even adding a second daily flight in peak season), plus resuming its two other routes to Tel Aviv, the airline will be as strong as it has ever been in Israel. That’s especially true when you consider that Delta also has a partnership with EL AL, not that Israel is a destination that’s heavily reliant on connecting traffic.
That being said, historically United has been by far the strongest US carrier in Israel. United already flies twice daily from Newark to Tel Aviv, and also has plans to resume service out of Chicago and Washington. There are no firm plans yet to resume the route out of San Francisco, but I imagine that will happen eventually.
As of March 2026, we’re also finally going to see American resume flights to Israel, as it will operate from New York to Tel Aviv. While American also operated to Israel out of Miami, that route was cut before October 2023. Meanwhile there was also supposed to be a route out of Dallas, but that was pushed back multiple times, before ultimately being canceled.
So I’m curious how the competitive dynamics play out between Delta and United, given United’s historical strength there, compared to Delta’s growth, combined with its partnership with EL AL.
Bottom line
In 2026, Delta plans to resume two additional routes to Tel Aviv. As of April 2026, we’ll see the resumption of Atlanta to Tel Aviv flights with the A350, while as of October 2026, we’ll see the resumption of Boston to Tel Aviv flights with the A330neo. Competition is certainly heating up… only time will tell how this plays out.
What do you make of Delta resuming more Tel Aviv flights?
United clearly wins here with having Newark to TLV 3 times a day on some days, IAD is a premium hub and SFO definitely is premium and I’m sure they will be adding it back.
I’m interested to see the actual routes being added to Dulles since apparently international will double there.
UA ORD 4X & IAD 3X/week starts day after tomorrow.
with all the delays from Airbus, it is amazing how DL keeps adding new routes.
Israel makes all kinds of sense.
As for Ben's need to compare DL to UA, the best comparison is that DL made $1.45 billion in profits on its international network in 2024 while UA made just $915 million.
While there will certainly be the usual UA fan nuts that will argue how DOT data is all wrong, they can't...
with all the delays from Airbus, it is amazing how DL keeps adding new routes.
Israel makes all kinds of sense.
As for Ben's need to compare DL to UA, the best comparison is that DL made $1.45 billion in profits on its international network in 2024 while UA made just $915 million.
While there will certainly be the usual UA fan nuts that will argue how DOT data is all wrong, they can't explain why UA consistently comes up short on profits even compared to DL.
Of course UA flies more ASMs; we all know that. But polluting the atmosphere is not UA's primary goal. Generating a return for its shareholders is a goal not just for UA but also for AA, DL and nearly every other airline in the world - given that the global airline industry is almost entirely for-profit.
DL just runs a better business than any other US airline and still has one of the world's largest networks.
It just stops short of trying to be the largest because DL knows that the last 10% of extra capacity that UA flies actually lowers its profits.
And let's not forget that UA has a significant labor cost advantage because it serves its employees Kirby Koolaid instead of paying them industry leading wages.
This is so boring. And predictable.
yes... I'm not sure why Ben needs to throw in his "competitive profile" other than to tee up a conversation that we ALL know where it is going.
The simple fact is that UA's capacity dumping strategy has not worked well for it and UA execs have said they will not be growing near as fast either across the Pacific or Atlantic.
Ben just simply provides me the opportunity to take a bow for calling...
yes... I'm not sure why Ben needs to throw in his "competitive profile" other than to tee up a conversation that we ALL know where it is going.
The simple fact is that UA's capacity dumping strategy has not worked well for it and UA execs have said they will not be growing near as fast either across the Pacific or Atlantic.
Ben just simply provides me the opportunity to take a bow for calling where UA would end up as its financial results did exactly as I predicted
Not even UA execs believe they exist first and foremost to be the largest. They have no choice but to change course when their "pedal to the metal" approach to growth fails to deliver the financial results that much more conservative Delta is delivering.
and yet it is DL that is announcing a new international route or two every month.
You've also predicted a bunch of nonsense that never came to pass, and then when called out on it you deflect and bring up unrelated subjects, you nostradumbass
We knew we'd find some TD nonsense somewhere. If Israel makes all kinds of sense Tim, why is Delta last to the party? Bad route planning it seems - and likely a lack of aircraft from bad fleet management - which is now going to haunt them for the next decade as they don't have an order to replace the 767s.
Sure they made higher international profits - through JVs with LATAM and Aeromexico...
We knew we'd find some TD nonsense somewhere. If Israel makes all kinds of sense Tim, why is Delta last to the party? Bad route planning it seems - and likely a lack of aircraft from bad fleet management - which is now going to haunt them for the next decade as they don't have an order to replace the 767s.
Sure they made higher international profits - through JVs with LATAM and Aeromexico one of which has now been deemed anti-competitive and illegal, so wow they made extra profits by screwing over the flying public and working with a corrupt foreign government to hoard slots (how wonderful!).
Also those that argue against you regularly tell you why Delta makes more profits than United, you just don't seem to listen to it. Delta has a stronger loyalty program, built on a stronger partnership with Amex (which actually particularly shows up in DOT data for international because a lot of loyalty redemptions are for international flights). In fact excluding loyalty (which is a core part of an airline) United loses less per ASM than Delta does so as an airline/operation, it is superior. Sure as a business, it is worse. It is pretty simple TD.
Also as for calling results, didn't you say that Delta was going to order some 787s at some employee event that literally everyone said wouldn't happen and well it didn't happen because you are so often wrong about these things? I'm still waiting for you to admit it, and not to mention, this 787 order is to replace the 767s that I mentioned above, so every day that this order isn't placed is a day that will likely pushback their ability to retire their fleet and grow properly.
TD says, "with all the delays from Airbus, it is amazing how DL keeps adding new routes."
Yep, the word is the DL 35Xs are delayed again until Q3 2027 at the earliest. DL’s conservative aircraft purchasing that historically has been a strength is now a major weakness. 29 UA 787s with the new Polaris Suites and Studios by the end of next year. UA will have grown its fleet 55% over the last decade...
TD says, "with all the delays from Airbus, it is amazing how DL keeps adding new routes."
Yep, the word is the DL 35Xs are delayed again until Q3 2027 at the earliest. DL’s conservative aircraft purchasing that historically has been a strength is now a major weakness. 29 UA 787s with the new Polaris Suites and Studios by the end of next year. UA will have grown its fleet 55% over the last decade compared to DL growing 20%. UAL has six times as many wide body and twice as many narrow body aircraft on order.
UA is playing the long game very well.
UA will also be adding a third EWR-TLV flight next year.
The interesting thing is that before the war, BOS-TLV was 3 weekly and ATL-TLV was daily. They seemed to have switched things around...
The BOS has more O&D and more premium demand for the nonstop.
Delta has also grown their BOS hub substantially since these flights last operated.
There's also a difference in gauge with the neo vs A350
The 339 actually has more seats than the new configuration of the 359.
and, I believe ATL-TLV operated on the ex Latam 35Ls so there is a huge cut in number of seats from the 35Ls to the 275 seat 35Hs, even before the reduction in number of flights.
DL apparently has reason to keep growing BOS; the local market might have something to it but gaining access to more domestic gates might also be part of the strategy.
Why US carriers are wanting so bad to return to Israel?
I don’t get the hype…
There are many European destinations should be more important than TLV.
As an American consumer what i will be benefiting from TLV route?
We need more European routes and asian.
Bangkok? Well hello delta.
Keep in mind that Turkish Airlines has yet to resume flights to TLV and it's not clear if they ever will. Pre 10/7 they operated like 14 daily flights to TLV. That's a lot of westbound capacity to/from TLV that no longer exists.
And even if Turkish does bring back flights to TLV, there are a lot of Jews in America who would not feel comfortable transiting through Istanbul. Israelis I think are a...
Keep in mind that Turkish Airlines has yet to resume flights to TLV and it's not clear if they ever will. Pre 10/7 they operated like 14 daily flights to TLV. That's a lot of westbound capacity to/from TLV that no longer exists.
And even if Turkish does bring back flights to TLV, there are a lot of Jews in America who would not feel comfortable transiting through Istanbul. Israelis I think are a bit more willing to transit through hostile countries but even if Turkish brings back flights at some point, they will lose out on Jewish passengers originating in the US heading to Israel (and there still are also likely many Israelis who at least for the time being won't fly through Turkey otherwise).
The Gulf airlines can fill the void heading East, but traffic to the US is still up for grabs as I haven't really seen any European carriers really expanding their TLV presence (which they probably can't even they wanted to for political reasons) to try and grab a bigger share of the connecting traffic.
@MichaelISNS - There are a lot of passengers who fly between the US and Israel, many of whom are very profitable and higher yielding compared to other destinations. There is a lot of premium demand on these routes, along with a lot of business travelers and wealthy individuals who fly between the two countries regularly. That is why UA historically had so many routes/flights to TLV, and why DL is trying to join in on the action.
They already have el al and arika. Israair
Delta aircraft should be somewhere else.
BKK? MNL? DPS? HKT? SGN?
These more important than tlv.
The answer is even more simple than the question:
Because the transatlantic yields to Israel are extremely high, whereas the transpacific yields to Bangkok are garbage.
There's only a single flight connecting the entirety of this side of the planet with Thailand (Air Canada at Vancouver) and that situation exists for a reason.
Does it matter if the yield is high?
Still the aircraft should be positioned to Asia. Like BKK and SGN AND DPS
For consumers.
Excellent news!! Congrats to Boston on getting daily service, that’s huge
Yikes, meanwhile Israel just killed another 100 people in a strike.
Yikes, Hamas is still in power and torturing their own people for the sake of staying in power. You do realize the moment Hamas decides to disarm the war will be over and it will be like how it was before October 7, 2023 right?!? The obsession with bashing Israel on this blog is nauseating. There is real genocide happening in Sudan right now and not a peep from all you folks. No protests, no...
Yikes, Hamas is still in power and torturing their own people for the sake of staying in power. You do realize the moment Hamas decides to disarm the war will be over and it will be like how it was before October 7, 2023 right?!? The obsession with bashing Israel on this blog is nauseating. There is real genocide happening in Sudan right now and not a peep from all you folks. No protests, no boycotts, condemnations, no violence at college campuses. PURE ANTISEMITISM!!!!!!
You shoot at Israel, they shoot back. Your "yikes!" would be better directed at Hamas, who have obviously had zero regard for the safety and well-being of Gazans from day one. They continually put their own people in the firing line by perpetuating their pointless and futile war. Besides which, on the reasoning of Muslim fundamentalists, those 100 dead have gone straight to Paradise, and are very happy about it. That's the problem with the...
You shoot at Israel, they shoot back. Your "yikes!" would be better directed at Hamas, who have obviously had zero regard for the safety and well-being of Gazans from day one. They continually put their own people in the firing line by perpetuating their pointless and futile war. Besides which, on the reasoning of Muslim fundamentalists, those 100 dead have gone straight to Paradise, and are very happy about it. That's the problem with the Useful Idiots in the West - they have absolutely zero clue about the Islamic mindset, let alone the Islamist one. You get there's a difference, right?
Surprised to see BOS-TLV return. It was supposedly hugely unprofitable for DL.