AIRWAYS SPECIAL Handling the Threats
12 Ben Gurion ’ s Terminal 3 is Israel ’ s main international gateway . It was designed by Black and Veatch , Skidmore , Owings and Merrill ( SOM ), and Israeli architects Moshe Safdie , Ram Karmi and others . // ISRAEL AIRPORTS AUTHORITY
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by the Lufthansa Group , stated that Lufthansa ( LH ), Swiss International Airlines ( LX ), and Austrian Airlines ( OS ) would resume flights to Tel Aviv on January 9 . That same week , Athens-based Aegean Airlines ( A3 ) and Bucharest-based TAROM ( RO ) resumed flights to Israel . By the end of January , 20 international airlines had resumed service to Israel , including Air France ( AF ), Air Europa ( UX ), Hainan Airlines ( HU ), Vueling ( VY ), Transavia ( HV ), Bulgaria Air ( FB ), LOT Polish Airlines ( LO ), Bluebird ( BZ ), and TUS Airways ( UB ).
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In February , other international carriers such as Smartwings ( QS ), Ryanair ( FR ), Azerbaijan Airlines ( J2 ), Air Seychelles ( HM ), and Georgian Airways ( A9 ) returned to Israel . On February 22 , United Airlines ( UA ) announced that it would resume flights in March , becoming the first legacy carrier in the United States to do so . By March , ITA Airways ( AZ ), Wizz Air ( W6 ), Cyprus Airways ( CY ), Air India ( AI ), and Brussels Airlines ( SN ) had resumed service . The
Israel Airports Authority has anticipated that more airlines , notably British Airways ( BA ), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines ( KL ), Iberia ( IB ), and Air Canada ( AC ) will return in April and May . Delta Air Lines ( DL ) has said it will return to Israel in June . American Airlines ( AA ), however , has announced it will wait until at least October 2024 .
Turkish-based Turkish Airlines ( TK ) and Pegasus ( PC ), which accounted for a combined 9 % of passenger traffic in September 2023 , are not expected to return to Israel anytime soon . In their absence , airlines are substituting Athens International Airport ( ATH ) in Greece and Larnaca International Airport ( LCA ) in Cyprus for Istanbul as destinations for westbound connecting flights , and the United Arab Emirates has become the favored hub for eastbound ones .
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