Two additional foreign airlines announced Sunday their intention to resume flights to Israel after ceasing operations in Ben Gurion Airport in October due to the war in Gaza.
More stories:
Cypriot airline TUS Airways announced it will renew flights to and from Israel starting January 25, on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays, with frequency likely to be increased to daily flights at a later date. The flights will be operated by Airbus A320 aircraft.
Philip Saunders, TUS Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer, said that Tel Aviv is one of the company's most important markets. "We’ve always been committed to serving Tel Aviv and renewing flights when conditions allow and as soon as possible," Saunders said.
The company's announcement also mentioned that "TUS Airways will announce special rates and promotions in honor of the renewed flights and will actively examine the situation to increase frequency between Tel Aviv and Larnaca and will consider renewing flights to other destinations, such as from Tel Aviv to Paphos, Cyprus and from Tel Aviv to Preveza and Lefkada, Greece."
In addition, LOT Polish Airlines, Poland’s national airline, announced the resumption of its flights to Israel starting January 28. During the initial stages, the company will operate four weekly flights until February 17, after which it will operate daily flights.
On Sunday, Ben Gurion Airport will see 25,400 passengers on 149 international flights both entering and departing. In total, about 13,700 passengers will depart on international flights, and approximately 11,700 passengers will enter Israel.
Last week, the airlines Lufthansa, Swiss, and Aegean Airlines resumed flights to Israel. Austrian Airlines will renew its flights to Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday, and Air France will renew the route to Israel on January 24.
These airlines are affiliated with Tarom Romanian flag carrier, which already resumed activity at Ben Gurion earlier in January, as well as Flydubai, Red Wings Airlines, Azimuth, Ethiopian, Airzena, Etihad Airways, HiSky, Uzbekistan Airways, and Hainan Airlines.
Some of these airlines continued to operate routes to Israel throughout the war. Later this month, additional airlines including Transavia (to Paris), Bluebird Airways (to Prague), Bulgaria Air (to Sofia), and Vueling, are expected to return to Ben Gurion Airport.