At the onset of Operation Swords of Iron, many airlines canceled their flights to and from Israel. However, as time passed, many of them resumed operations. Currently, more than 50 airlines are operating at Ben-Gurion International Airport.
On Wednesday, Cathay Pacific announced that it is canceling all flights to and from Israel until March 27, 2025.
Cathay Pacific was the only airline operating direct flights between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv, after El-Al canceled its route to Hong Kong.
As of now, besides the limited frequency of Hainan Airlines, Air India, and the airlines from the Emirates, there are no airlines flying east from Israel.
As mentioned, Cathay Pacific has canceled all flights to Israel for the next eight months. Additionally, Korean Air and Gulf Air, other airlines that operated direct flights to Israel until the start of the Gaza War, have not resumed their services either. This reduction in competition on routes to the East may also impact prices.
A strong player on the routes to the East was Turkish Airlines, which also has not returned to Israel, and currently, there is no expected return date. This leaves mainly El-Al, Air India, Etihad, Flydubai, and Hainan in competition for eastern routes.
Of course, there is also the option to fly west to Europe and then back east, but in most cases, this significantly extends the travel route.
