Five foreign airlines which have yet to fly to Israel will begin operating in the country in the upcoming summer season. In addition, Israeli travelers will be offered new destinations on direct flights from Ben-Gurion Airport.
The new companies which will begin flying to Israel in the coming months include Kenya Airways, Air Bucharest, China's Hainan Airlines and Lithuania-based Small Planet Airlines. Blue Panorama Airlines will resume charter flights from Italy.
According to the Israel Airports Authority (IAA), several airlines will offer new routes from Israel during the summer season (March 29 to October 24), including direct flights to Boston by El Al, and direct flights to Florence and Bologna in Italy, to Ibiza in Spain and Porto in Portugal by Arkia.
The Germania airline will offer direct flights from Tel Aviv to Baden-Baden and Hamburg. Other news destinations include Rijeka in Croatia, Volos in Greece and Târgu-Mureș in Romania.
Ben-Gurion Airport General Director Shmuel Zakai says there has been an increased demand from foreign airlines to fly to Israel. Some 15 million passengers passed through Israel's international airport in 2014, a 6.6% increase from 2013. Some 14.26 million of them traveled on international flights, while the rest traveled to Eilat.
