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Israel’s second largest airline, Arkia, will begin flying between Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) and New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on February 8th. This new route will be a direct challenge to El Al and a welcome competitor in a market that has seen expensive fares.
Arkia plans to fly an Airbus A330-900neo aircraft on this route. It will be marketed as an Arkia flight, but operated with crew and a wet leased aircraft from a Spanish-Portuguese charter airline known as Iberojet. El Al has been the only option for some time due to the ongoing conflict. American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines have suspended service to Tel Aviv. El Al has consistently flown the route without competition for quite some time now.
Demand between New York and Israel remains strong and El Al has been criticized for the high price of its airfare. Arkia will offer airfare for significantly less. Many days see El Al fares around $5,000 in Economy while Arkia will offer roundtrip tickets for under $1,200 and include meals and bags. Flights are currently scheduled into May 2025. There is no word if this will be extended and it will likely be based on how well Arkia performs on this route.
Arkia launches direct flights from Tel Aviv to New York
The new service is offering round-trip tickets starting at $1,199, which include luggage, two full meals and beverages.
Israeli Transport Minister @Regev_Miri welcomed the move.
Get the FULL STORY ⇢… pic.twitter.com/3WvswxoSIB— Jewish News Syndicate (@JNS_org) January 13, 2025
Miri Regev, Israel’s Minister of Transport, said:
I commend Arkia for positively responding to our proposal and entering the aviation market to the US and Canada. This initiative will expand the availability of flights to North America, benefiting Israeli citizens, tourists, and businessmen by providing accessible prices. The State of Israel will support airlines that choose to operate direct flights to the US, fostering real competition. This means more flights, diversified options for passengers, and lower prices.”
Anthony’s Take: It’s good to see some competition on this route since the US carriers have suspended service. El Al is charging way too much for Economy and Arkia will hopefully help bring down fares.
(Image Credits: Arkia.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
