Tuesday, August 20, 2024 As airlines cancel flights , Israeli travel has become increasingly chaotic and costly, leaving travelers to navigate high prices and limited options. While vacationing in Spain, Adi Livne received news of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Iran last month. Her flight home to Israel with a European budget airline was among those canceled as tensions heightened, with rumors of an impending Iranian retaliatory strike.
Stranded in Spain and urgently seeking a way back, she found that only Israeli airlines were still operating. However, El Al, Israel’s national airline, was charging an exorbitant $1,000 for a one-way ticket from Madrid to Tel Aviv, which she declined. Without finding a cheaper alternative, she eventually purchased a similarly priced ticket with the Israeli airline Israir, which is scheduled to depart from Barcelona on Sunday.
Weeks after the assassination, with ongoing threats of retaliation, travel to and from Israel remains difficult. Numerous airlines have either canceled flights at the last minute or completely suspended their routes due to the unstable security situation. United Airlines, a major carrier between Israel and the United States, has halted its service to Israel indefinitely.
American Airlines has also canceled flights and announced that it will not resume service until at least April 2025. The steep prices of the limited tickets available on El Al, which is known for maintaining its flights to Israel even.