As US airlines slow to return, Israeli airline Arkia launches New York flights

The Israeli airline company Arkia has joined TechAir, a new tech initiative to provide flights between Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and New York.

The first flight is scheduled for February 8 and the company’s plan is to operate three weekly flights (Sunday, Monday and Wednesday) on the popular route between Tel Aviv and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.

The purpose of the initiative is to address the current shortage of flights, and very expensive fares, since U.S. airline companies decided to postpone flights to Israel due to the ongoing multi-front war. 

“This is a historic and significant day for Arkia,” the company’s CEO Oz Berlowitz stated. “Launching the direct Tel Aviv-New York route is an important milestone, which shows our commitment to the Israeli public and to finding aviation solutions even in challenging times,” he continued. 

The smaller airline, Arkia, and Israeli tech executives hope to challenge the rival Israel airline company El Al, which currently enjoys a near monopoly on North American and other routes. 

During the first months of the initiative, Arkia will operate a leased Airbus NEO 330-900 Iberojet passenger plane. The price of a round trip in economy class from Israel to New York will start at $1,199. 

Although much business nowadays can be done online, Israeli startup founders and venture fund managers still need face-to-face meetings with international clients and potential investors. The U.S. is a particularly crucial market for Israeli tech executives. The lack of flights and high fares therefore prompted the Israeli forum Hi-Tech Center to launch its TechAir initiative. 

Eynat Guez, the CEO of the Israeli tech company Papaya Global, emphasized the importance of strengthening the tech sector amid the ongoing war. 

“Israel’s resilience is built, among other things, on its economy and we sought to find a solution that would allow us to operate our companies to maintain continued growth and business activity, even in such a challenging time for everyone,” Guez said. “We feared that business operations and activities could be seriously harmed and this cooperation provides an important response to that,” the top tech executive added. 

Realizing the importance of the local tech sector being connected to the North American market, the Israeli government recently launched an assistance program with the aim of encouraging Israeli and international airline companies to operate flights between Israel and the United States. The Israeli government has vowed to share 50% of the operational loss in cases of cancelled flights due to the war. 

Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev stressed the importance of maintaining direct and viable flights between the U.S. and Israel. 

“Israel will help airlines that choose to operate direct flights to the US, which will lead to real competition,” Regev argued. “The government will share the cost of compensation for passengers due to flight cancellations, in light of the security situation, to encourage companies to increase the scope of flights,” she added. 

Israelis have also faced flight challenges on European destinations. In September, European authorities urged airline companies to avoid Israeli and Lebanese airspaces due to the war between the Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist militia Hezbollah and Israel. However, some European airline companies have resumed their Israel flights after Hezbollah and Israel agreed to a ceasefire in late November. 

A hostage deal with Hamas in Gaza could potentially further lower the regional tension, and encourage more foreign airline companies to resume flights to Israel.