Summer Flights to Israel: From the US, UK & France

If you are flying to Israel this summer, you are booking into the busiest season Ben Gurion has seen since the war. The airport is bracing for roughly 1.5 million passengers in July and 1.9 million in August — numbers that would have looked ordinary in 2019 but feel like a real recovery after two straight years of disruption.

Here is the honest state of play as of summer 2026: the rebound is real, but it is not finished. About 44 foreign airlines are due to serve Tel Aviv by the end of July, against 77 before the war. The market was knocked down twice — first by the 2023–25 Gaza war, then by a US–Iran flare-up in February 2026 that closed Ben Gurion again until it reopened on April 9. Israeli carriers held the line throughout, which is why they dominate every route below. Fares are elevated and schedules move week to week, so treat every price and timetable here as a snapshot: confirm before you book.

This guide is the map. It compares getting to Israel from the three biggest Jewish-community origins — the United States, the United Kingdom and France — and links to a full guide for each. If you just want the cheapest way in from anywhere, start with our overview of cheap flights to Israel, and watch our deals page for live fare drops.

From the US, nonstop service to Tel Aviv is essentially Israeli-carrier-only right now. El Al is running its largest North America schedule ever — about 55 weekly flights, up to seven a day out of the New York area at peak — from JFK, Newark, Miami, Boston and Los Angeles, with San Francisco rejoining on October 25. Arkia flies JFK–Tel Aviv roughly five times a week, and Israir is launching a daily JFK service in late July 2026.

The big three US legacy carriers — United, Delta and American — remain suspended through the summer, with restart dates (United around September 7, Delta's JFK route September 6, American not until roughly January 2027) that have slipped again and again. Expect nonstop economy in the $1,400–1,700 range at peak, higher close-in. Our full guide to cheap flights to Israel from the US breaks down every gateway, the connecting-via-Europe workaround, and where the points sweet spots are.

London. El Al runs a full schedule from Heathrow and Luton — about 22 flights a week and the dependable choice. Wizz Air is the budget workhorse out of Luton and Gatwick: cheap but bare-bones. British Airways is targeting a return around August 1 (possibly autumn) and easyJet is eyeing autumn too, so for now both are still grounded; Virgin Atlantic left the route for good in 2025. Budget round-trips run roughly £150–300 and El Al £350–700 in peak season. See our London-to-Tel-Aviv guide for the full breakdown.

Paris. Tel Aviv is El Al's single busiest European route — 22 to 27 flights a week from Charles de Gaulle — which tells you everything about French demand. Air France resumed a daily 777 on July 3, and low-cost Transavia opened an Orly route in early 2026 (its schedule has been on-again, off-again, so confirm it is operating). France is now the world's number-one source of aliyah, and summer is its peak as families relocate before the school year, so book early. Budget fares run about €180–350 round-trip and Air France or El Al €400–700-plus. Details in our Paris-to-Tel-Aviv guide.

Nonstop is simplest and, on El Al, the most Shabbos-proof — but connecting through Europe reopened around July 1, with the Lufthansa group, Air France, SWISS, Austrian and ITA all offering one-stop routings. From the US these can run $750–1,400 round-trip, often cheaper than nonstop, at the cost of four to six extra hours and a layover. The catch for us: on any non-El-Al carrier your kosher meal is a request, not a default. Add a KSML (the airline code for a kosher meal) to your booking at least 24 hours out — 48 to 72 is safer — reconfirm it, and bring backup food anyway. Special-meal requests quietly drop when a flight is rebooked, and mistakes happen: Air France served a mislabeled non-kosher tray as kosher in February 2025.

Don't forget the trip home. Every rule above runs in both directions — an ill-timed return can blow up your Shabbos back home just as easily, and the Israeli-side departure crush is real, because Israelis are flying out for summer at the same moment you're flying in. Ben Gurion is packed both ways all season, so pad your connections and reconfirm the return leg's meal too. If you booked a budget or connecting itinerary specifically to fly home, double-check that your outbound Shabbos plan and your return-day timing both still hold — it is easy to fix one and forget the other.

A few things to plan around once you land. Midsummer is hot — think 90s Fahrenheit and up, brutal in Eilat, the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley, merely very warm and humid on the coast, and cooler in the evenings up in Jerusalem. Reserve hotels, rental cars and popular restaurants well ahead; this is the most crowded stretch of the year, and the good tables and cars sell out.

One thing a general travel site will never flag: the summer overlaps with the Three Weeks and the Nine Days — the mourning period leading up to Tisha B'Av, which falls around July 23 this year (confirm the exact dates). During the Nine Days many Israeli restaurants switch to a dairy-only menu and skip meat entirely, live music largely stops, and swimming customs get stricter in observant circles. If a fleishig (meat) dinner out is central to your trip, check where those dates land before you build your itinerary.

On raw price, the budget carriers out of Europe win: Wizz Air from London runs roughly £150–300 round-trip and Transavia from Paris about €180–350 in peak season. From the US there's no cheap nonstop — connecting through Europe (around $750–1,400) undercuts the $1,400–1,700 Israeli-carrier nonstops. Remember the trade-off: budget and connecting options mean no default kosher meal and, sometimes, no Shabbos protection. Verify live fares before booking.

Ben Gurion is fully open and handling its busiest summer since the war — about 1.5 million passengers in July and 1.9 million in August. That said, the airport was shut twice (during the 2023–25 war and again briefly in February 2026, reopening April 9), foreign capacity is only about half restored, and timetables shift weekly. Israeli carriers proved most reliable throughout. Buy flexible fares where you can, and confirm schedules close to departure.

For observant travelers, El Al from any of the three origins is the clear pick: every meal is glatt kosher by default, mehadrin meals are pre-orderable, and it never flies on Shabbos or Yom Tov. On Air France or the Lufthansa-group connectors you must order a KSML 24–72 hours ahead, reconfirm it, and pack a backup. Budget carriers — Wizz, Transavia — carry no kosher catering at all, so bring your own sealed meal.

Earlier than you think. With foreign competition thin and demand at post-war highs, fares climb sharply close-in and summer award seats disappear fast. El Al's New York–Tel Aviv fares have historically bottomed around eight weeks out, but in a tight summer like this one, booking further ahead is the safer bet. Our guide on when to book summer flights to Israel has the timing detail.