After a record breaking 2019 in which Israel welcomed over 4.5 million visitors to Israel,
2020 was off to an even stronger start before the coronavirus abruptly halted all tourism
not only to Israel, but around the world. After over two months of shutdown, airlines are now gearing up to fill the skies once again.
Although for the immediate future, Israel is not allowing non Israelis to enter the country, the consensus is that within the next couple of weeks, Israelis will be allowed to travel to certain destinations that have similarly low covid infection rates and tourists from those countries will be allowed to enter Israel. Currently all Israelis arriving into Israel must quarantine in their homes for a 14 days period though this restriction is expected to be lifted once Israel allows foreigners to travel to the country.
The countries that may participate in the agreement include Greece, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Iceland, New Zealand, Australia, Bulgaria, and Georgia however the agreement nor a final list of participating countries is confirmed.
A partial list of airlines have announced resumption of operations as follows:
United – Currently offer daily flights from Newark
British Airways – already offering daily flights from Heathrow to Tel Aviv. Starting their non stop from San Francisco on May 20th.
Delta – beginning June 14
Starting May 17 Belavia – weekly from Minsk begin, Wizzair from Luton
May 28 th – Turkish Air and Royal Jordanian
June 1 – Air France, Air Indian, Georgia Airlines, Aegean, Aeroflot, Russia Air, Air Malta
Brussels Air, Romanian Air, TAP – Portugal, Ryannair, LOT
June 2 – Luftansa, Uzerbajan Airlines, KLM
June 3 – Air Canada
June 4 – Latam, Transavia, Delta, Bulgaria Air,
June 6 – Norwegian Air
June 8 – Austrian Airlines
June 9 – Virgin Airlines, Air Moldovia
June 15 – Swissair, Easyjet
June 18 – Thai Airways
It is impossible to estimate exactly when visitors from the US will be allowed to travel to
Israel without the requirement for quarantine upon arrival. However as we move forward in
these next few weeks and begin to hopefully welcome visitors, and continuing assessing the
overall spread of the virus, the instructions and regulations regarding travel will be updated
by the Israeli government.
