rewrite this title and make it good for SEOEl Al alone on direct Israel-US routes

Giant US airline Delta Air Lines has announced that it will not return to Israel until the end of March 2025, because of the security situation. Together with the earlier cancellations by US airlines United and American Airlines, this leaves El Al as the sole remaining operator of flights on the high-demand Tel Aviv-New York route.

In normal times, Delta flies daily from Tel Aviv to New York’s JFK Airport. After an earlier halt, it resumed flying the route for a short period in June-July, until the escalation of military activity in the region when Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran and Hezbollah commander Fuad Sukr was killed in Lebanon at the end of July. At first, the airline suspended operations in Israel for a few days at a time only, then it did so until after the Jewish holiday season, which ends on October 24, and now it has extended the suspension for a longer period.

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The possibilities for flying between the US and Israel by means of connecting flights are also narrowing, because of the cancellations of flights by European airlines, among them Lufthansa Group and British Airways, which both announced that they were extending the suspension of flights yesterday), Air France, ITA, KLM, and Lot. On the other hand, Air Europa and Bluebird Airways have restored their Israel services.

Because of the situation and the high demand, El Al has substantially expanded its flight schedule between Israel and the US, while cancelling flights on other routes.

As mentioned, El Al is now the only airline operating direct flights between Israel and the US, with 50 flights weekly to JFK and Newark in New York/New Jersey, and to Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, and Fort Lauderdale.

Since October 7 last year, El Al has diverted its activity in South Africa, Ireland, and Morocco to boosting its activity on European and US routes.

El Al’s second quarter financials indicated that it had an 88% market share of the Israel-US market. Since Delta cancelled its flights, that has risen to 100%.

Fares from Israel to the US now start at $1,000. El Al’s financials show that 43% of its $670 million revenue from transporting passengers and cargo in the first half of 2024 came from flights to the US, which compares with 37% in the first half of 2023.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on October 22, 2024.

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