El Al will resume service from Miami nonstop to Tel Aviv next year. They last operated that route in 2008. El Al will be receiving their new 787s starting in the 3rd quarter of 2017, so the route will likely start after they start receiving those aircraft.
For those keeping score at home that means that flights between North America and Tel Aviv in the summer/fall of 2017 should look like:
Boston: 3 weekly flights on El Al.
JFK: 7 weekly flights on Delta, 16 weekly flights on El Al.
Los Angeles: 5 weekly flights on El Al.
Miami: Unknown number (Likely between 3-6) of weekly flights on El Al.
Newark: 14 weekly flights on United, 6 weekly flights on El Al.
San Francisco: 7 weekly flights on United.
Toronto: 7 weekly flights on Air Canada, 4 weekly flights on El Al.
I wrote earlier this year that Chicago and Miami would be up next for Tel Aviv service. Now it’s only a question of whether El Al or United will be the airline to operate a Chicago-Tel Aviv route.
“Now it’s only a question of whether El Al or United will be the airline to operate a Chicago-Tel Aviv route”
Do we know El-Al (or United) will have a Chicago-TLV line, especially in-light of selecting to revive the Miami-TLV line instead?
@question:
We don’t know anything.
But all this means is that El Al thinks that MIA-TLV is more desirable than ORD-TLV, which makes sense given SoFlo’s population.
In my opinion ORD-TLV will be the next most logical route addition, especially given United’s remarkable success in TLV service from EWR and SFO and El Al’s possible desire to fend that off.
Doesnt Delta have 11 weekly flights from jfk?
@Manny:
They cancelled that additional service.
as a ta in nj the feedback is united more comfortable seats and better service then Elal
As far as business class United wins hands down 100% of the time over Elal with lay flat seats vs Elal business cls seats
Is it possible the el al/jetblue alliance was done so elal could gather intel using jetblue accumulated data to determine profitability of this new/old route?
Awesome postings Dan- much appreciated!
What is the real reason why American US Air cut service– Any idea if they will resume service to Israel soon? what’s the best way to use aadvantage miles to fly from North America to TLV?
Thanks!
Miami is just a really up and coming market, the Jewish community has grown like crazy.
I rather pay more to fly or use mr etc than fly to NY etc on avios then to Israel.
You save a good 5 hours by flying direct
I miss the Delta ATL-TLV route.
as AA has big hub in mia does this point to a resurrection of the aa/elal ff partnership ie will advantage miles once again be available for flights on elal?
@Conspiracy Theory Ari:
I don’t see the connection.
@Habayita:
It doesn’t seem like American has any desire to fly to TLV again.
Either it’s because of the old TWA dispute or some sort of pressure from their ME3 partners.
Best bet is probably Air Berlin, but their miles are tough to use in general these days, not just for TLV.
@dave:
We can hope.
Dan- you forgot Washington: There is nonstop with United as well.
@Rachel: No there isn’t. There is not non-stop from Washington to TLV. Back in the day I think El Al had a flight 3 times a week from BWI but that was aprox 20+ years ago.
I doubt a ORD-TLV nonstop on UA anytime soon. There is not much growing going on in ORD vs SFO is going through massive expansion in the UA Network. ORD has seen cuts recently(especially in the AA network)
@Rachel:
United has never flown WAS-TLV nonstop.
@Moshe1k:
Hence the hedge with El Al.
I’d be surprised if neither airline operated the route by 2018.
Air Canada is a seasonal 7 day operation otherwise it’s 6 days
@Dov:
“in the summer/fall of 2017”
@Dan
Airlines have yet to open their fall 2017 schedule
AC schedule is currently reduced to 6 per week in fall/winter of 2016,17
In the passed their fall winter schedule has even been reduced to 4 per week
How long is the direct flight time?
United adds Chicago-Champaign flights as part of domestic push
United Airlines Chicago to TEL AVIV
A commercial United Airlines flight is the first plane to land on the new 28L-10R runway at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Oct. 15, 2015. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Lauren ZumbachContact ReporterChicago Tribune
Some of United Airlines’ newest destinations from Chicago — Champaign, Columbia, Mo., and Rochester, Minn. — don’t sound like travel hot spots.
But they’re part of United’s push to win back market share in its domestic hubs, including O’Hare International Airport, lost during the airline’s years as a “docile competitor,” said United President Scott Kirby.
“I like to think of this as the day we go back on offense,” he said.
United will begin flying 47 new daily round-trip flights this summer, including service to six new destinations from O’Hare, the airline announced Monday.
Among the new destinations are Midwest cities it once ignored. United isn’t banking on filling the three daily flights from Champaign with passengers stopping in Chicago. Rather, it’s hoping to attract customers connecting at O’Hare with other flights.
There isn’t enough demand in the Chicago area to support nonstop flights to international destinations like TEL-AVIV or more frequent flights to some U.S. cities. But add in passengers from smaller cities around the country, and those routes may start making sense, Kirby said.
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United’s new Midwest destinations — Champaign, Columbia and Rochester — are already currently served by American Airlines. Delta Air Lines also flies to Rochester.
At one point, there were 18 markets near Chicago that American served and United did not, said Kirby, who was president of American before joining United in August.
“I never understood why United Airlines let American get away with that,” he said.
United also is adding daily service from O’Hare to Charlottesville, Va.; Reno, Nev.; and Spokane, Wash.
Kirby said United will continue to add routes and destinations as long it can grow while improving profitability and reliability. At O’Hare, growth also depends on getting access to more gates and avoiding cost increases, he said.
The Chicago Department of Aviation has spent and budgeted a total of nearly $5.5 billion on improvements to O’Hare’s airfield, including new runways. But a gate shortage still could limit flight traffic if there aren’t enough spots for planes to load and unload passengers. United leases 77 of O’Hare’s 186 gates, while American has 67, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.
In July, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced major airlines had agreed to build up to nine new gates at O’Hare. At the time, city officials said they were still discussing plans for a bigger expansion with O’Hare’s major airlines.
“We are fully supportive of their plans to grow and will always provide the facilities to do that,” said Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans. “Right now we are somewhat constrained, and we have to provide not only for United but other airlines that want to expand.”
Kirby said United wants to see a plan that adds some gates quickly and cost-effectively before embarking on a major overhaul.
Since connecting passengers don’t care whether they fly through Chicago or Charlotte, O’Hare is competing with every other airport for connecting business, he said.