German airline Condor launches Israel flights despite renewed regional tensions
The carrier inaugurated daily Frankfurt-Tel Aviv service with a fully booked flight as Air Haifa expands and Ethiopian Airlines adds capacity.
Despite heightened regional tensions, with Israel raising its alert level over the weekend amid concerns of renewed fighting with Iran and potential disruptions at Ben Gurion Airport, Germany's Condor launched its first scheduled service to Israel on Saturday evening.
Represented in Israel by Tal Aviation Group, Condor inaugurated a new daily route between Frankfurt and Tel Aviv, marking its first regular commercial operations in the country. While the airline made a one-off exhibition flight to Ben Gurion Airport around 70 years ago as part of a pilgrimage event, it has never previously operated scheduled flights to Israel.
The airline said its inaugural flight was fully booked, with around 80% of passengers connecting onward to destinations in North America and East Asia. The high share of transfer passengers underscores the importance of the new route for Israeli travelers, who continue to face a limited number of direct long-haul flight options.
The launch comes as Israel's aviation market continues to recover, although the pace varies widely among international carriers.
Air Haifa also announced further expansion on Sunday, opening ticket sales for a new route between Haifa Airport and Thessaloniki. The service will begin operating on October 25, with one-way fares starting at €89.
The airline also reported carrying approximately 58,000 passengers in July, double the number recorded in the same month last year and the highest monthly passenger total in the company's history.
Ethiopian Airlines, also represented in Israel by Tal Aviation, said it will increase capacity on its Tel Aviv-Addis Ababa route beginning Monday through the end of August. The carrier will add five weekly flights, raising the total number of weekly services from 21 to 26.
Not all international airlines, however, are moving to restore operations. Portugal's TAP Air Portugal, which had planned to resume flights between Tel Aviv and Lisbon in August, has postponed its return until September 15.
TAP suspended flights to Israel following the October 7, 2023 attacks. Although it briefly resumed service, it has yet to restore regular operations on the route.
