Two years after October 7, American Airlines finally returns to Israel

The world’s largest air carrier announced that it will finally resume service to Israel from New York City after a two-year hiatus.

By World Israel News Staff

The world’s largest commercial air carrier is finally resuming service to Israel after more than two years without flights to or from the Jewish state.

On Friday, American Airlines announced that it was preparing to restore its route from New York City’s JFK Airport to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, ending the more than two-year service hiatus.

After the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, foreign air carriers suspended service to and from Israel.

While many airlines, including some American carriers such as United Airlines, later resumed service to Israel, American Airlines had until now declined to reopen its primary route to Tel Aviv.

Now, however, the world’s largest air carrier – with about 211 million passengers in 2023 – has said it will resume service between New York and Tel Aviv starting March 28. Return flights from Tel Aviv to New York will start March 31.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline is reportedly hiring Hebrew-speaking flight attendants to serve on the flights to Tel Aviv.

American Airlines is also reportedly considering adding an additional route between Los Angeles and Tel Aviv, with a possible route between Tel Aviv and Philadelphia also under consideration.

Round-trip economy tickets from Tel Aviv to New York are slated to start at $859.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines – the second- and third-largest American airlines, respectively – have already resumed service to Israel.

The announcement on Friday follows on the heels of similar service resumptions to Israel by five other foreign carriers: British Airways, Iberia, Swiss, Eurowings, and Scandinavian Airlines.

Several other small air carriers, including Animawings and Sky Express, are slated to begin service to Israel starting in December.