American Airlines will no longer fly to Israel until September 2025

American Airlines announced this weekend that it would not resume flights to Israel until September 2025, extending an existing pause for another six months and potentially setting off a cascade of delays for other airlines in resuming regular flights to Israel.

American Airlines is taking the step the first US-based airline to postpone flights to Israel until at least the second half of 2025amid a series of cancellations affecting most non-Israeli airlines.

Delta and its partner airlines currently have pauses on flights to Israel through March, while United Airlines has not yet set a return date for its own flights to Israel.

Many airlines suspended their flights to Israel following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and postponed their returns to the region due to renewed security concerns, including the expansion of the regional conflict into Lebanon and Iran. Others resumed flights after October 7 but suspended them due to escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, including multiple missile attacks from Iran.

The scarcity of flights and their frequent interruptions have made traveling to and from Israel an expensive, often foolish process. To control costs, many travelers choose to first fly to a European city that offers budget services before connecting to their final destination – although several low-cost European airlines, including EasyJet and Ryanair, have also suspended flights to Israel until at least the spring 2025.

Israeli airline El Al is currently the only airline offering direct flights between the United States and Israel. El Al’s effective monopoly on the service since October 7 resulted in an investigation into price gouging and a policy change that fixed airfares to and from some European cities.

A spokesperson for American Airlines said this in a statement told the Jewish News Syndicate that customers who had already purchased flights could get a full refund or exchange them for another airline.