Lufthansa has resumed around 30% of its flight schedule to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, with four weekly flights from Frankfurt and three from Munich. The first flight from Munich arrived at 16h30 on Monday.
Major security concerns as a result of the Israel-Hamas conflict saw flights to Israel halted by Lufthansa on October 9.
Lufthansa subsidiaries, Austrian Airlines and SWISS, have also reportedly resumed flights to Israel on Monday, with Austrian Airlines offering eight weekly flights and SWISS offering five. A total of 20 weekly connections will be provided by the Lufthansa Group.
The airline announced the news in a press release in mid-December. “Safety is always a top priority for the airlines in the Lufthansa Group. The Lufthansa Group continues to monitor the security situation in Israel closely and is in close contact with the local and international authorities,” the company wrote, adding that the flight schedule could be disrupted based on changing conditions in the area.
The Israel Airports Authority said in a statement on Monday that there was a gradual return of international traffic to the airport. Lufthansa is the second airline to resume flights to Israel, with Romania’s flagship airline, Tarom, having resumed flights to Tel Aviv on January 1. Air Europa and United Airlines are the next scheduled carriers to resume flights in early February.
