Summary Ryanair has canceled its flights from/to Israel through at least September 30. The low-cost carrier has joined several other airlines, which have extended their absence from the country's main airport, Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV). However, some airlines have continued to grow their networks from TLV, including EL AL, the flag carrier of Israel.
Ryanair, the Ireland-based low-cost carrier, has canceled its flights to Tel Aviv, Israel, updating its passengers that it would not operate flights to the country until at least September 30. Operational restrictions beyond its control In its latest travel update, Ryanair said that it had been forced to cancel flights from/to Ben Gurion Tel Aviv International Airport (TLV) between August 6 and September 30. The airline stated that it did so due to “operational restrictions which are beyond our control,” with the low-cost carrier promising to contact affected passengers via various communication methods.
“Ryanair apologises for these cancellations, which are beyond our control, and passengers are advised to download the Ryanair app to check for the latest flight updates.” In August, Ryanair had planned to operate flights to TLV from seven destinations, including Athens Airport (ATH) and Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) . Airlines continue to monitor the situation in the Middle East.
Substantially reduced network While during the three summer months, Ryanair’s network to TLV remained unchanged, with the airline planning up to 20 weekly flights to the Israeli airport, resulting in 3,828 weekly seats, its operations have been reduced substantially year-on-year (YoY), data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed. In August 2023, Ryanair scheduled 82 weekly flights, resulting in 15,708 weekly seats to TLV. In addition to the seven current airports it had planned to serve in August, it operated flights from 15 more airports during the same month a year prior.
This included European capital airports’, such as Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport (FCO), Sofia Airport (SOF), Vienna Airport (VIE), and Vilnius Airport (VNO). Ryanair’s full flight network to TLV in August 2023 is displayed in the map below. The carriers have suspended flights to the Aqaba on the country's southern coast and redirected capacity to Amman.
Joining other airlines The Irish low-cost carrier has joined other airlines in extending their flight cancelations as Israel continues to brace for a response from Iran, which would retaliate against the former following the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran, Iran. Recently, American Airlines updated its passengers that it would not return to TLV until at least April 2025 , joining Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, which have also suspended services to Israel. However, the tensions have yet to result in significant schedule cuts so far.
In comparison to July, there were only three fewer weekly flights in August and 39 fewer in September compared to the former month. Nevertheless, YoY, there were 558 fewer weekly flights in July, resulting in TLV losing 107,549 weekly seats. Yet, for example, EL AL , Israel’s flag carrier, has continued to grow its capacity, adding 53 weekly flights to its schedule in July compared to the corresponding period a year prior.
The airline has indicated that in Q2, it improved its profit quarter-on-quarter and YoY, ending the three-month period with a net profit of $147 million on the back of revenues of $839 million. Many airlines are also avoiding regional airspace due to safety concerns..
