Germany’s flagship airline Lufthansa has resumed its flights to Israel, 87 days after halting them due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The airline’s activity in Israel resumed with a flight from Munich to Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv.
Swiss International Air Lines, a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, also resumed flights to Israel on Monday with a flight from Zurich to Tel Aviv, while Austrian Airlines, another Lufthansa subsidiary, is scheduled to resume flights starting Tuesday on the Vienna-Tel Aviv route.
Lufthansa stopped flights to Israel on Oct. 13, six days after the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out. In mid-December, the airline announced its intention to resume flights while closely monitoring the security situation in Israel with close contact with local and international authorities.
The Israel Airports Authority (IAA) said in a statement on Monday that there is a gradual return of international airlines to Israel after most of them stopped flying to the country due to the fighting.
Romania’s flag carrier, Tarom, resumed flights to Israel on Jan. 1, while Greece’s leading carrier, Aegean Airlines, is expected to resume flights on the Athens-Tel Aviv route on Thursday.
The IAA noted that despite the conflict, the number of passengers passing through Ben Gurion Airport in 2023 increased by 9.3 percent year on year, amounting to 21.09 million. However, the number is lower than the annual forecast of 25 million.
The number of passengers passing through the airport in December increased by 57.1 percent, totaling about 600,000, compared to about 382,000 in November. ■
