Delta, United Airlines return to Israel in time for High Holy Days, other carriers follow

Regarding European carriers, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is set to restart its Copenhagen-Tel Aviv route starting October 26, with the company operating four round-trip Airbus A320neo flights weekly.

Delta Air Lines returned to Israel on Monday, with flight DL234 from New York's JFK Airport arriving at Ben-Gurion Airport at 8:43 a.m., over 40 minutes ahead of schedule, according to the company's website.

The Airbus A330-900neo left JFK on Sunday, marking the first Delta flight to depart for the Jewish State since the airline paused flights in March following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Ben-Gurion Airport posted a video on its Instagram page later on Monday showing the aircraft landing and taxiing to the gate, followed by its departure back to the United States as flight DL235 to JFK.

Competing US legacy carrier United Airlines is additionally set to return to Israel this week, with flights UA84 and UA90 set to depart New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport on Tuesday for their expected arrivals in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

Like Delta, United has also been absent from Israeli skies since the beginning of Operation Roaring Lion.

While Delta has maintained a quasi-presence in Israel through its partnership with El Al, United currently has no codeshare agreements with any Israeli airline, though its passengers have been able to access Ben-Gurion Airport by connecting to other Star Alliance carriers in Europe, such as Germany's Lufthansa.

Both United's flights to Israel will make use of Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft, with the return of the two US aviation giants bringing the first direct competition to El Al in over six months.

SAS to return, Wizz Air plans expansion of Israel network

Regarding European carriers, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is set to restart its Copenhagen-Tel Aviv route starting October 26, with the company operating four round-trip Airbus A320neo flights weekly, according to Walla.

The report noted that the updated schedule for northern Europe's largest airline is an even higher frequency for the route than that of its services prior to the war-related hiatus.

In addition, low-cost carrier Wizz Air announced on Monday that it will be expanding its Israel network, KAN News reported, with the airline having stopped and restarted its services to Tel Aviv several times amid the conflict.

Destinations set to be added include Catania, London Gatwick, Venice, Cluj, and Iasi, while existing services will be increased in frequency.