Delta and United airlines will resume flights to Israel and to NYC alongside El Al

Following the anger of the US administration and the official complaint forwarded to the Israeli government - US airlines will participate in the US flight schedule. The arrangement that has been found is that the three companies that operate on the line, United, Delta and El Al, will operate a schedule that will be divided between the three: every day a different company will operate a flight on the line from the US to Tel Aviv. However, Delta and United will be allowed to board passengers on flights departing from Tel Aviv every day.
As part of the division of the flight schedule, Delta will also add passenger flights from New York to Tel Aviv on February 21 and 25.
In accordance with the new outline for Ben Gurion Airport's operations, which allows the operation of foreign airlines at Lod Airport, the American airlines Delta Airlines and United Airlines announced today (Wednesday) that they will operate flights from Saturday night.
Delta will return to operate a daily flight from Ben Gurion Airport to JFK Airport and United will currently operate 3 weekly flights. Passengers will be required to be equipped with an Exceptions Committee approval, and the results of a negative corona test conducted up to 72 hours prior to the flight. Most before the flight, in accordance with the instructions of the Israeli government and the US government.
Last week, the US Department of Transportation filed an official complaint with the Israeli Ministry of Transportation about the exclusivity that EL AL received on flights from the United States to Israel. American airlines continue to arrive in Israel on cargo flights, but until the change in the outline of Ben Gurion Airport's operations, despite repeated requests on their behalf, they were not allowed to operate passenger flights.
It appears that the line to Frankfurt, where Israir, which won the tender, operates, will have a similar arrangement, with Kiev expected to enter as another destination for the "rescue" destinations, given the large number of passengers stuck there and unable to return to Israel. European airlines have not filed a formal complaint, but it appears that even before a complaint is filed, a division will be made on these routes as well.
At this stage, the sky is closed until February 20, according to a government decision, but the starting point in the work plan is that the celestial closure will be extended until the first week of March (probably until March 7). In any case, these are currently passengers who hold an exceptional permit to fly and must perform corona tests as required.
This morning (Wednesday) Delta Airlines announced that it will operate a flight from Tel Aviv to New York on Saturday, February 20, and according to a notice sent to travel agents, the flight will take place "even in the event of an extension of the closure."
Shortly afterwards, United announced that it, too, was returning to the passenger flight schedule. The company will operate a flight from Tel Aviv to Newark on Saturday, February 20, announcing that from next week it will also allow passengers to fly to Israel on the route on February 23 and 26, depending on the working arrangement between the three airlines.

These are flights that arrive in Israel as a cargo flight and will take off from here with passengers, as was the case in the first days of the closure, when Delta and United operated flights in this way. This activity was stopped by the Civil Aviation Authority, arguing that a cargo flight should be such in both directions. Subsequently, by decision of the Department of Transportation, EL AL was granted the right to operate rescue flights on the route to the United States exclusively.
Flights that took off as cargo in one direction and returned with passengers actually operated despite the Civil Aviation Authority's announcement - such as a flight operated by El Al to London as a cargo flight in one direction and a private flight for about 80 passengers in the other direction.
The Americans needed fairness and respect for agreements, and rightly so, and the official complaint they passed, which criticized the local conduct, caused considerable embarrassment in the Department of Transportation. Although the Ministry of Transportation has issued a tender between the Israeli companies to operate "rescue" flights to New York, only El Al can operate direct flights to the United States (due to its fleet), and therefore is the one that "won" the tender, which in practice was intended to determine The terms of the flight and the price.
The American companies operating on routes to Israel did not have a chance to receive the said flights, and indeed they were rejected, when the Sky Closing Regulations also stated by the Civil Aviation Authority that "a public flight will only be approved by an Israeli air operator;" public flight "- flight It operates according to a schedule that is announced to the public in advance, and it is possible to purchase tickets from an individual. "
This regulation, which prevents foreign companies Delta and United from winning the tender, ignited the flames in the US Department of Transportation, which claimed that this discrimination contradicts the aviation agreements between the countries.
Not only can the administration claim discrimination, passengers can also claim discrimination: on flights operated by EL AL on a route to the US, at a price set by the state, $ 600 one way, passengers who purchased tickets on El Al and their flights were canceled can fly free, so customers who purchased tickets with another company Will be required to pay for the flight and hope to receive a refund for the canceled flight.
Now even Delta and United passengers who have purchased tickets in advance will be allowed to fly without paying again. Beyond the tickets paid for, passengers will be able to continue to earn miles at the airport clubs to them.