While Delta and Wizz Air have resumed flights to Tel Aviv, several other major airlines, among which the Lufthansa Group, have decided to prolong their suspensions due to the region’s persistent instability.
As of today, only three airlines have resumed flights to Tel Aviv: Wizz Air, ITA Airways, and Delta. In a statement, Delta said it restarted its Tel Aviv route on 20 May, ‘which was temporarily suspended in response to ongoing conflict in the region, [following] an extensive security risk assessment by the airline’. Prior to October 2023, Delta operated up to 15 weekly flights to Tel Aviv.
By January 2025, most carriers had resumed operations, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. However, after a ballistic missile fired by the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen struck Ben Gurion Airport on 4 May, many halted their services again. Six people were injured in the attack, as both Israel’s Arrow and the U.S. THAAD defence systems failed to intercept the missile.
⚡️🇾🇪🇮🇱BREAKING:
— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) May 4, 2025
A ballistic missile fired from Yemen made a direct impact at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Channel 12 Israel: Flights arriving and departing from Ben Gurion Airport suspended. pic.twitter.com/64R3ME2YFQ
The incident marked a new wave of disruption after more than a year of irregular air travel to Israel, since the beginning of the war on 7 October 2023 with Hamas’s unprecedented assault on southern Israel. Since then, air travel has been significantly and regularly disrupted due to the volatile regional situation. It has forced many international airlines to suspend their operations for safety reasons, leaving only Israel’s flag carrier to maintain regular international service.
Air France, which initially planned to resume service on 20 May, later announced an extension of its suspension through 24 May, citing persistent security concerns.
Several other carriers, including Transavia, LOT Polish Airlines, Aegean Airlines, and Air India, are expected to resume service between 24 May and 25 May. The Lufthansa Group, comprising SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings, has pushed back its return to 8 June, stating the decision was made ‘due to the current situation’. The group specified that flights would operate without overnight stopovers.
United Airlines is scheduled to resume service on 12 June, followed by British Airways on 14 June. Among low-cost carriers, Ryanair plans to resume flights on 4 June, while easyJet is expected to return by the end of June.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has however voiced his frustration with the continued uncertainty and said on Monday that the airline was ‘losing patience’ and may consider reassigning aircraft to other European routes.
‘I think we’re running out of patience too with Israel… flights to and from Tel Aviv,’ he said. ‘If they’re going to keep being disrupted by these security issues, frankly, we’d be better off sending those aircraft somewhere else in Europe.’
Air Seychelles is not expected to resume flights before August, while Air Canada has postponed its return until September 2025.
As the situation remains fluid and subject to rapid change, passengers are advised to closely monitor airline updates.
