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Adam Kredo(Free Beacon)
Roughly a year and a half after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack prompted major airlines across the globe to pause flights to Israel, many of them still haven’t resumed service or said when they plan to do so—including in countries led by bitter opponents of the Jewish state.
Domestically, American Airlines and Delta continue to pause their flights into Israel, citing a tumultuous security situation. Delta intends to restore service from New York’s JFK Airport on April 1, offering 2,000 weekly seats to passengers, an airline spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon. American Airlines flights, meanwhile, remain in limbo. An airline spokesman said that service to Tel Aviv is not slated to resume at this point.
“American continuously evaluates its network and we have nothing new to share at this time regarding Tel Aviv service,” the spokesman said, noting that the airline does offer service through its partners. “Customers who are planning travel to Israel can purchase tickets on aa.com on flights operated by our partner airlines that serve Tel Aviv.”
Scores of international carriers have similarly declined to announce a date for their resumption of flights to Israel. Here is a collection:
KM Malta Airlines
Formerly known as Air Malta, the Mediterranean nation’s flag carrier first announced the cancellation of six Tel Aviv flights on Oct. 11, 2023, shortly after Hamas slaughtered more than 1,200 Israelis and initiated the largest Middle East war in decades. Air Malta ceased all operations on March 30, 2024.
The carrier’s flights remain suspended, according to the Israeli insurance firm PassportCard, which maintains a database detailing which airlines are flying into the Jewish state. In its initial announcement, the carrier said flights were paused as a result of “current and ongoing conflict in Israel” and promised “to monitor the security situation” and update its flight schedule as needed.
KM Malta did not respond to a request for comment on whether flights will resume in the future. Malta’s prime minister, Robert Abela, has suggested that Israel is guilty of “atrocities” in its war against Hamas, saying last year, “no self-defense can result in retaliation where over 20,000 people, mostly innocent women and children, lost their lives because of this right to self-defense.” He cited numbers from officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza that the United Nations revised downward months after his comments.
Air Montenegro
Like others, Air Montenegro paused its flights into Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport after the Oct. 7 attacks. Services remain on standby.
Roughly a year ago, the carrier’s CEO, Mark Anzur, cited “the complex and unpredictable geopolitical situation in Israel” and increased “insurance premiums on aircraft” flying into Tel Aviv to explain the pause. The carrier did not respond to a request for comment on whether Anzur has changed that calculation. Air Montenegro has said publicly that it “stands ready to return to Tel Aviv once circumstances permit.”
Like other Balkan nations, Montenegro has experienced anti-Israel protests in the wake of Oct. 7, with demonstrators calling for sanctions on the Jewish state for its “genocide” of the Palestinian people.
Emirates
The Dubai-based airline “suspended all flights to and from Tel Aviv” after war erupted. While the United Arab Emirates maintains diplomatic ties with Israel under the historic Abraham Accords peace agreement created during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, it has not updated its statement on flights to the Jewish state since November 2023.
“We are closely monitoring the situation in Israel and are in close contact with the relevant authorities,” Emirates said in that statement. The airline did not respond to a request for information on whether these policies are being revised. It continues to advertise its service into Tel Aviv, though it is not currently possible to book a flight.
Gulf Air
The Bahrain-based airline operated direct flights into Israel until the Gaza War broke out and has not said when or if they will resume. The airline also adjusted its regional flight paths last year, when Iran launched two major ballistic missile strikes on Israel, prompting a retaliatory attack on the Islamic Republic.
Gulf Air still maintains an office in Tel Aviv’s airport, which it established in 2021, after the Abraham Accords were signed. At the time, the nation expressed optimism about hosting Israeli tourists and providing round trip service between the countries.
Air Serbia
Serbia’s national airline restarted flights into Israel in April 2023 after a three-year hiatus, but those flights are no longer accessible. Tel Aviv cannot be entered as a destination on the carrier’s online storefront.
Serbia has been on solid diplomatic terms with Israel for quite some time, though its government has voted in favor of pro-Palestinian resolutions at the United Nations. In April 2024, the Qatar-funded Al Jazeera network reported that Serbia’s state-owned arms trader had quietly sent several weapons shipments to Israel.
Icelandair
The Icelandic airline last said in December 2024 that it suspended flights to Israel “until further notice.” It did not respond to a request for comment about when they would resume or why they remain suspended.
Iceland’s government publicly condemned Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack but turned on Israel shortly thereafter, issuing a November 2023 resolution that condemned “all subsequent actions of the Israeli government in violation of international humanitarian law.”
Korean Air
Flights on Korean Air remain “suspended and future schedules are unconfirmed,” the airline says on its website when trying to book a flight into Tel Aviv. A spokesman for the airline confirmed to the Free Beacon on Friday that it “has no plans to resume its Tel Aviv route at this time.”
Korean Air flights were halted “until further notice” as of December 2024, and the airline did not respond to a request for comment on the possible resumption. The South Korean government has maintained friendly ties with Israel and quickly condemned Hamas’s Oct. 7 brutalities.
Norwegian Air
The airline canceled its Tel Aviv flights on Oct. 12, 2023. It remains impossible to book a flight into Israel on its website. The company did not respond to a request for comment on its decision to continue avoiding travel to the Jewish state.
The airline attempted to run an emergency evacuation flight for Norwegians in the Middle East shortly after hostilities erupted, but that flight was canceled due to the carrier’s inability to insure its aircraft.
Norway has had tense relations with Israel in recent years and joined Italy and Spain in a unilateral 2024 bid to recognize a Palestinian state. Israel revoked diplomatic status for eight of Norway’s officials as payback for the move.
“The policy of the Norwegian government towards Israel since the brutal attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, the Houthis and others against Israel is extreme, one-sided and anti-Israel,” Israel’s foreign ministry stated in August 2024.
Pegasus Airlines
The Istanbul-based air carrier said in May 2024 that “flights have been suspended until further notice due to the current situation in Israel.” The airline has not provided any update since that time and could not provide updated guidance when reached by the Free Beacon.
“We would like to inform you that our flight schedules are dynamic and subject to provisioned changes,” Pegasus said in response to questions.
It previously offered direct service from Istanbul to Tel Aviv, even as Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan remained a harsh critic of the Jewish state. Ties have only soured since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, with Erdogan blaming Israel for the violence and accusing it of punishing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
TAP Air Portugal
The Portuguese airline still advertises its service to Israel, but it remains impossible to book a fare. The airline suspended service on Oct. 9, 2023, telling passengers in a Facebook posting that it “decided to suspend flights to and from Tel Aviv due to the situation in Israel.” TAP has not provided an update since and an email to the airline seeking clarification was not returned.
Portugal’s government has stood by Israel since it went to war with Hamas and formed an “Israel Allies Caucus” in Nov. 2024.
“We stand with the Jewish people, who will no longer accept being unjustly blamed or targeted,” Portuguese lawmaker Pedro Frazão said at the time.
Transavia
The Dutch airline canceled all flights into Israel through March, 31, 2025, according to a statement on its website.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority,” Transavia said in an Oct. 2024 statement. “We review the situation daily and adjust our flight routes where necessary.” The airline did not respond to a request for comment on whether its flights will resume once the March 31 deadline passes.
In addition to Israel, “the airline will not fly to airports in Lebanon and Jordan until at least the end of March 2025,” according to a separate statement on Transavia’s website. Amsterdam, the Netherlands’ most popular city, has been rocked by anti-Israel and anti-Semitic protests since Oct. 7. “Anti-Semitic squads,” for example, were caught on film assaulting Israeli soccer fans during a November pogrom.
