Summary
- American Airlines has extended its flight ban to Israel until March 29, 2025.
- The airline was more cautious than its main competitors Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
- The latter two airlines also recently suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Israel.
American Airlines The airline has reportedly suspended its flights to Israel until March 29, 2025, extending its absence from the country for several more months.
Suspension of flights for further months
American Airlines has extended its flight suspension to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) until at least March 29, 2025, the airline’s spokesperson confirmed to Simple Flying.
The airline had previously suspended its flights to TLV until October, acting more cautiously than its main competitors in the US, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy flying
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines had resumed flights to TLV on June 7 and March 2 respectively, but due to the recent escalation of tensions in the region, both airlines had to cancel their flights to Israel.
Delta Air Lines has again suspended flights to TLV from August 5 until at least September 6, with the possibility of rebooking flights until September 10.
United Airlines temporarily cancelled its flight schedules from TLV in April until May and will resume serving the country’s most important airport from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) starting June 5.
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Delta announced its return earlier today.
Suspended since October 6
American Airlines added that in an effort to provide customers with more flexibility, the company has expanded its travel advisory. Customers whose travel plans are affected can now rebook or cancel without penalty and receive a refund.
“We will continue to work closely with our partner airlines to support customers traveling between Israel and European cities with connections to the United States.”
The airline representative pointed out that American Airlines has not operated flights to TLV since October 6, when the war in Israel broke out.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines and 
United Airlines initially suspended their flights to TLV on October 7.
Recent schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed that United Airlines and Delta Air Lines had scheduled 18 weekly flights from the New York area to TLV in June.
The latter airline operated its flights to TLV from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
Photo: viper-zero | Shutterstock
By July, United Airlines had increased its weekly frequencies to TLV to 14, while Delta Air Lines had stuck with daily flights to the Israeli airport.
So far, only Delta Air Lines has scheduled flights from JFK to TLV between September and November, while Cirium continues to show American Airlines departures to TLV.
However, once these restrictions are lifted, Delta Air Lines will be the only airline offering flights to TLV for the time being, with United Airlines’ last scheduled flights to the airport being in August.
Related
Delta Air Lines resumes Tel Aviv service from New York-JFK with nearly 2,000 seats per week
More than 45 flights are planned this month, starting Friday.
Benefit from decreasing competition
At the same time, EL AL, Israel’s national airline, has increased its profitability in recent quarters.
In its latest release on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) on August 15, the Israeli airline announced that it closed the second quarter with a net profit of $147 million, compared to a net profit of $59 million in the second quarter of 2023.
Photo: Benthemouse | Shutterstock
EL AL attributed its rising profits to higher capacity utilization, increased flight activity and its strong cargo division.
The TASE filing also shows that its market share in TLV was 21% in September 2023. In April, May and June, its market share was 43%, 47% and 39%, respectively.
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