United Airlines announced Saturday it will resume flight services from New York to Tel Aviv on June 5, the second US carrier to return to Ben Gurion Airport since a Houthi ballistic missile impacted at the airfield earlier this month.
“This resumption follows a detailed assessment of operational considerations for the region and close work with the unions who represent our flight attendants and pilots,” United said in a statement.
United, along with most foreign airlines, halted flight services between New York’s Newark airport and Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on May 4 after a ballistic missile from Yemen struck an area at Israel’s main international airport.
The Houthi missile impacted in a grove of trees alongside an access road close to Terminal 3, several hundred meters (yards) from the airport control tower.
Since then, a host of foreign airlines have repeatedly extended the cancellation of flights to and from the country, leaving many Israelis stranded overseas and looking for alternative flights, or having their vacations cancelled.
Popular Irish low-cost airline Ryanair on Wednesday extended its suspension of flight services to Tel Aviv until July 31, joining British Airways in deciding to stay away for much of the peak summer season.
The announcement came after Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said last week that the low-cost carrier was “losing patience” with repeated security disruptions at Ben Gurion Airport and could consider moving aircraft to service alternative destinations.
The Lufthansa group — whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings — said Monday it was extending the cancellation of flight services until at least June 15, from the previously announced date of June 8.
Other carriers extending their flight suspensions since May 4 include Latvian airline AirBaltic, easyJet, Iberia and Transavia.
Among the few foreign airlines that have recently resumed flight services to Israel are Delta, Air France, Wizz Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad Airways and Aegean Airlines.
Since the war in the Gaza Strip broke out with the Hamas-led onslaught on October 7, 2023, foreign airlines have repeatedly canceled and resumed their flights to and from Israel.
The ongoing security situation, which at the height of the war included rocket and drone attacks from Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and Iraq, plus two large missile barrages from Iran, has led to Israeli airlines, chiefly El Al, operating at a near-monopoly on some routes and setting exorbitant ticket prices.