Delta Resumes Flights To Tel Aviv, Israel, As Of May 20, 2025 (Again)
In October 2023, we saw most international airlines discontinue flights to Israel over safety concerns, following the Hamas terror attacks, and subsequent conflict. Ever since, we’ve seen foreign airlines take an ”on again, off again” approach to service, based on the constantly evolving security situation. They want to fly to Tel Aviv, given that it’s a lucrative market, but they also have to take precautions.
In October 2023, we saw most international airlines discontinue flights to Israel over safety concerns, following the Hamas terror attacks, and subsequent conflict. Ever since, we’ve seen foreign airlines take an “on again, off again” approach to service, based on the constantly evolving security situation. They want to fly to Tel Aviv, given that it’s a lucrative market, but they also have to take precautions.
Along those lines, Delta has just beat United to the punch with relaunching Israel service, after the latest round of suspensions, which happened at the beginning of the month.
Delta resumes daily New York to Tel Aviv route
As of today (May 20, 2025), Delta is resuming daily flights between New York (JFK) and Tel Aviv (TLV). The route is operating with the following schedule:
DL234 New York to Tel Aviv departing 3:40PM arriving 9:35AM (+1 day)
DL235 Tel Aviv to New York departing 11:50AM arriving 4:59PM
The 5,677-mile flight is blocked at 10hr55min eastbound and 12hr9min westbound. Delta uses an Airbus A330-900neo for the service, featuring 281 seats, including 29 business class seats, 28 premium economy seats, 56 extra legroom economy seats, and 168 economy seats.
For context, Delta suspended service to Tel Aviv from July 2024 through April 2025. Then we saw service resume as of April 1, 2025, before being suspended again as of May 4, 2025, following a missile strike near Ben Gurion Airport.
Delta claims that the decision to resume Israel flights “follows a comprehensive security review, conducted in close coordination with government and private-sector partners,” and “the airline continues to prioritize the safety of its customers and crews and has implemented additional precautions for operations to and from Tel Aviv.”
Interestingly, this is the first time that we’re seeing Delta beat United when it comes to relaunching Israel flights. Up until now, United has always resumed flights first. Only time will tell how long the service lasts this time around, before there’s the next scare.
Delta & EL AL have an intriguing partnership
With Delta resuming flights to Israel, I can’t help but point out an interesting development we’ve seen in the past couple of years. In June 2023, Delta and EL AL announced a new strategic partnership. Of course the timing of that wasn’t great, since it was supposed to launch in late 2023, around the same time that Delta pulled out of Israel the first time.
As we see more airlines returning to Israel, I’m very curious to see what this partnership looks like in practice, and how Delta evolves its Israel route network in light of this.
Historically, Delta has been heavily focused on joint venture partners and airlines that it invests in, so I think it’s almost a sure bet that Delta plans to eventually buy a stake in EL AL.
However, I suspect Delta is waiting some time to invest, given that EL AL’s valuation is at an all-time high, as the conflict has been good for the carrier’s business. EL AL is as profitable as ever, as the only airline that has been continuously flying to Israel, so fares have been through the roof.
Bottom line
Delta is resuming daily flights between New York and Tel Aviv as of today, May 20, 2025. Most recently, Delta suspended Israel flights in early May, after there was a missile strike near the airport. We’re also seeing Delta resume flights ahead of United for the first time since the start of the conflict, so that’s interesting.
Anyway, it remains to be seen how long it is until the service is next suspended….
What do you make of Delta resuming flights to Israel?
