El Al to offer a record 20 weekly flights to the UK this winter

The Tel Aviv-London route is currently serviced only by Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia, with flights by Hungarian budget carrier Wizz Air on the line resuming later this month.

By JNS

Israeli flag carrier El Al announced Sunday that it will operate 20 weekly flights to Britain next winter to meet heightened demand, its most ever on the route.

The airline will offer 15 flights a week to London’s Heathrow Airport—Europe’s busiest airport—as well as five weekly flights to Luton Airport, starting in late October.

The move comes as direct flights between the two countries this summer remain oversold, sending airfares soaring.

The Tel Aviv-London route is currently serviced only by Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia, with flights by Hungarian budget carrier Wizz Air on the line resuming later this month.

El Al has posted record-profits over the past two years of war, when it often operated as a virtual monopoly.

British Airways and the London-based budget carrier Easyjet have suspended service to Tel Aviv until the end of October, while Virgin Atlantic has stopped flying to Israel entirely.

Virgin Atlantic will be leasing its coveted Heathrow slots to El Al on its former Tel Aviv route from Oct. 23, 2025, to March 26, 2026, allowing the Israeli company to add flights.

In a sign of the resurgence of the Israeli aviation market, 80,000 passengers passed through Ben-Gurion International Airport last Thursday, the most for a single day since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on the northwestern Negev.