On 6 and 8 September 2026, respectively, American Airlines, Delta and United are scheduled to resume their Tel Aviv flights. The new flight schedule comes just in time for the Jewish High Holidays and would mean that travellers won’t have to rely solely on Israeli carriers El Al and Arkia any longer.
Air connectivity between the US and Israel has been heavily disrupted since the outbreak of the Gaza war on 7 October 2023. Ever since, conflicts in the region and related airspace closures have been causing airlines to disrupt their Tel Aviv connections.
Although there have been exceptions – Delta resumed its Newark–Tel Aviv schedule for 10 days in June 2025 before closing again as Israel and Iran exchanged strikes – American travellers have been relying solely on Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia for the better part of the past three years. A lack of competition has led to steep price increases, but this might be about to change.
Both Delta and United have announced they plan to resume their Tel Aviv connections at the start of September, ahead of the Jewish High Holidays.
Delta is scheduled to start operating its daily New York–Tel Aviv route once again on 6 September. The first flight departing New York will leave on 6 September and should arrive in Israel the following morning. The return flight will depart Tel Aviv on 7 September, arriving in New York later that same day. The flight will operate on Delta’s Airbus A330-900neo aircraft, featuring the Delta One, Delta Premium Select, Delta Comfort, and Delta Main Cabin experiences.
“The resumption of service follows a thorough review of the evolving security environment in the region. The safety and security of our customers and employees remain our top priority, and Delta will continue to monitor the situation closely in coordination with aviation authorities and government agencies. Customers are encouraged to check delta.com and the Delta app for the latest flight updates and travel information,” Delta announced.
Meanwhile, United’s twice-daily Newark-Tel Aviv operation should take off on 8 September 2026. Overall, this would add three return flights per day for those travelling between the US and Israel starting in September.
Although this should eventually lead to a better balance between offer and demand, and thus to lower prices than those applied by the Israeli airlines since the lack of competition, travellers will have to wait a little longer before being able to benefit from more attractive prices.
“The planned resumption after months of absence by both Delta and United bodes well for the Israeli consumer. It is a pity that both airlines have decided to monopolise airfares by matching El Al’s historically sky-high airfares, but for now that’s the reality,” Mark Feldman, CEO of Jerusalem’s Ziontours, told the Jerusalem News Syndicate.
In October 2026, United plans to resume its Tel Aviv flights from Chicago and Washington, D.C., and Delta’s flights from Atlanta should start up again in December. American Airlines, however, has pushed back the resumption of its US-Israel flights until the Spring of 2027.
