Israel-Hamas ceasefire: Which airlines are flying again?

With the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas now officially in place, airlines are slowly starting to resume services to Israel.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians return to Gaza strip

Tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to the Gaza Strip as Israel lifted its closure of the north for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas, in accordance with a fragile, three-step ceasefire according to CBS News.

The implementation of the ceasefire and a gradual reduction in tensions have prompted a number of foreign airlines to announce the resumption of flight operations to Israel in the coming weeks or months.

This comes in time for many who want to book flights for the Passover holidays in April.

Flight tickets to Israel remain expensive

Yaneev Lanis, co-founder of the online booking site Secret Flights, said that non-Israeli airlines will gradually grow their services and the prices will gradually come down. However, he does not foresee the prices dropping significantly any time soon. Prices are expected to stay high for a while due to the reduced capacity and high demand.

‘Passover period is always an expensive period to travel, and especially this year, when there is still going to be less supply than usual,’ said Lanis.

Markedly, ticket prices to and from Israel have more than doubled at times during the war, according to The Times of Israel. Extra demand and a shortage of service resulted as foreign carriers repeatedly cancelled flights to and from Israel amid attacks.

Airlines resuming flights

Various international airlines announced they would resume flight services to and from Israel starting between February and April 2025.

Air France has resumed services between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Israel on 25 January, starting with five weekly flights. Germany’s Lufthansa group and its affiliates Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings are set to bring back flights to Tel Aviv at a reduced schedule on 1 February. British Airways announced that it will resume some services between Tel Aviv and London from 5 April. Initially the airline will offer one daily flight and from April 20, it will increase to two flights a day.

The Hungarian low-cost carrier, Wizz Air, began reinstating its flights from 15 January. It offers connections from Tel Aviv to London, Budapest, Vienna, Milan, Warsaw, and Athens, reported Travel News.

ITA Airways is restarting flights between Rome and Tel Aviv, with one daily flight, on 1 February. From 16 February, it will add a second daily flight.

KLM will maintain its suspension of Israel services until 29 March 2025.

Would you feel safe flying to Israel now?

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