Arkia Israeli Airlines, Israel’s second-largest airline, has announced it will commence direct flights between Tel Aviv and New York JFK beginning on February 9, 2024. The new service is being launched in collaboration with TechAir, a not-for-profit technology startup company. TechAir is a forum for Israeli entrepreneurs, business investors, startup founders, venture capitalists, and other fund managers who all share a need to have regular face-to-face meetings with clients in the US.
The new venture will operate three times per week between Tel-Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) and New York-JFK Airport (JFK) using a leased Airbus A330-900neo aircraft. The source of the aircraft is reported to be Spanish-Portuguese charter airline Iberojet, which currently operates two A330-900neos each seating 371 passengers. Flights will depart Tel Aviv on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and will run initially until at least May 2025.
Roundtrip tickets from Tel Aviv to New York will start at $1,199 in economy class, which will include a checked luggage allowance, seating selection, and meals, with tickets being made available to book via the Arkia website.
The service is being launched in response to the rising demand for travel between Israel and the US while capacity has been reducing over recent months. United, Delta, and American all suspended direct flights between the US and Israel due to Israel’s war with Hamas and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, leaving El Al alone in the market. This has resulted in fares soaring and leaving customers with the option of either using the El Al flights or traveling via a connecting point in Europe adding time and inconvenience.
While Arkia will reserve seats for the high-tech industry to address the specific demands of startups and tech firms, the carrier has not provided further details about the scope of this arrangement. On its website, TechAir states its mission as “ensuring affordable and flexible air travel between Israel and the United States and to mitigate the economic and logistical impact of limited Israel-New York flight availability.”
“This is a historic and significant day for Arkia,” said Arkia CEO Oz Berlowitz. “Launching the direct Tel Aviv-New York route is an important milestone, which shows our commitment to the Israeli public and to finding aviation solutions even in challenging times.”
According to reports, the proposed schedule will see Arkia flight IZ991 depart TLV on Mondays and Wednesdays at noon arriving at JFK at 18:20. On Saturdays, the flight departs at 23:30 arriving in New York at 05:50 the following day. The return flight (IZ991) will depart JFK on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 15:00 arriving at TLV at 08:00 the following day. On Sundays, the timings are departure from JFK at 16:00 landing in TLV at 09:00 the following day.
While Arkia may be the airline launching the route, it does not have any aircraft in its own fleet able to operate the 5,677-mile (9,083km) route, hence where IberoJet comes in. While Arkia has just five narrowbody aircraft of its own (two Airbus A321LR, two Embraer 190s, and one Embraer 195), it will rely on the Iberojet aircraft to provide the capacity and range needed to make the journey non-stop.
The Spanish-Portuguese carrier will provide the aircraft plus pilots and some cabin crew, while the Israeli airline is likely to provide additional cabin crew representatives for language and cultural assistance on the regular transatlantic flights.
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