On June 13, 2025, we saw EL AL suspend operations, and even move its planes out of Israel, in light of the conflict with Iran. This was pretty significant, as it was the first time since October 2023 that EL AL canceled service for any material amount of time.
There’s now an interesting update, as the airline has started gradually resuming service, in line with government regulations. While I first covered this yesterday, there’s an interesting update in terms of the pricing, plus the artificial cap on passengers.
EL AL starts operating limited “rescue” flights
EL AL is resuming outbound flights from Israel as of today (Monday, June 23, 2025). However, the airline isn’t operating its regular schedule. Instead, the airline is operating a very limited number of routes, flying to eight destinations. Destinations include Athens (ATH), Bangkok (BKK), Larnaca (LCA), London (LHR), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), Paris (CDG), and Rome (FCO).
Beyond these special flights, the airline has otherwise canceled flights through June 27, 2025, and has closed bookings for flights through July 15, 2025. The government is still deciding on the timeline with which regularly scheduled flights will resume.
For these flights, there’s a strict limit of 50 passengers per flight when departing Tel Aviv, regardless of the destination. Why? According to Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev, here’s the logic for that:
“We need to limit the number of passengers on planes that are on the tarmac during this challenging period when the airport can be a target.”
What a fascinating approach to take. So I guess the government has decided that it’s safe for 50 people to take a flight, but not for 200 people to take a flight? I wonder how one does the analysis on that, and decides on the optimal number of passengers.
Passengers have to register their interest for flights
With only 50 seats per flight and a very limited schedule, how is EL AL prioritizing demand? Well, the airline has opened a registration page on its website, where travelers can express interest in taking one of these flights.
There are different forms depending on whether you’re an Israeli stranded abroad, or are in Israel and want to depart. The government estimates that 40,000 foreign tourists are currently in the country, while 100,000 Israelis are currently abroad.
Priority for tickets is being given to life-saving, humanitarian, and national security cases. Those who had tickets on canceled EL AL flights also have priority. There are some added restrictions for passengers, like that Israelis traveling abroad on one of these flights can’t return within 30 days.
The ticket prices here are clearly being subsidized, as the fares are really low, when you consider that only 50 people can be carried per flight. We’re talking fares ranging from $99 for Larnaca, to $795 for Los Angeles. Meanwhile those who were on canceled EL AL flights are being accommodated at no additional cost.
I wonder if the government is subsidizing these flights, if EL AL is covering the difference (especially in light of its price gouging lawsuit), or what.
Bottom line
EL AL is resuming operations as of today, Monday, June 23, 2025, after a roughly 10 day suspension. The airline isn’t resuming its regular schedule, though, and is instead operating a limited number of flights for which it gets government approval. Each of these flights is capped at 50 passengers, apparently to limit the ability for the airport to be a target.
What do you make of EL AL’s service resumption?
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