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 when other airlines do not, have sparked frustration among travelers like Livne, who expected a different approach from their national airline. “El Al is really price-gouging and taking advantage of the lack of competition,” Livne said .
“It’s pretty ugly to exploit a crisis like that. It’s not something I would have expected, given the Israeli sense of solidarity.” El Al seems to have opted for a low-profile approach at this time.
However, the ongoing conflict appears to have benefited the airline financially, as the company reported record quarterly profits of $147.7 million for the April to June period on Thursday. Although the financial results for the current quarter won’t be available for a few months, El Al appears optimistic about maintaining a busy flight schedule.
On the same day as the profit announcement, the airline revealed plans for significant fleet expansion by placing an order for up to 31 Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The recent wave of flight cancellations is the most extensive since international airlines began suspending service after the war in Gaza erupted on October 7. This conflict began with a large-scale Hamas-led assault on southern Israel, resulting in nearly 1,200 deaths and 251 people taken hostage.
These cancellations are causing a sense of anxiety similar to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel between Israel and the rest of the world was severely restricted due to public health measures. These concerns are resurfacing as limited flights become increasingly expensive, making travel out of reach for many. The uncertainty surrounding the ability to carry out travel plans may be deterring potential passengers.
El Al, one of the few commercial airlines equipped with anti-missile defense systems, has emerged as the most reliable option, though it offers a limited number of nonstop flights to Israel from U.S. destinations.
For instance, Silicon Valley, which has historically relied on United Airlines for direct flights from San Francisco to Tel Aviv, is facing significant disruption. The suspension of these flights is creating a major obstacle for commerce between these two major tech hubs, according to Sharon Vanek, executive director of the California Israel Chamber of Commerce. “The lack of direct flights, together with the unstable situation in the Middle East, may lead to fewer face-to-face meetings, which are often crucial for building trust and closing deals, potentially weakening these international business ties,” Vanek wrote in an email to JTA .
Despite the difficulties, many American Jews remain determined to reach Israel. For some, this involves flying to Europe first and then finding the most affordable flight available on an Israeli budget airline. Take Emily Pagano, for example, who arrived in Israel on Thursday after a journey that began in Phoenix, Arizona, with a stopover in Athens.
Her trip’s purpose is to visit her 22-year-old daughter, who had arrived a few days earlier to participate in a volunteer program. Pagano was resolute in making the trip because she wanted to support her daughter, who showed courage by volunteering in a country where the threat of imminent bombings looms, according to news reports. “It was very scary as a mother, sending my daughter into potential danger, but that’s nothing compared to what’s being faced by the parents whose children are being held hostage in Gaza,” she said .
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