Amid High Tension, European Airline Launches New Route to Israel

German airline Condor launched a daily direct flight between Tel Aviv and Frankfurt, with the first plane landing at Ben-Gurion on August 1. Air Haifa opened ticket sales for a flight to Thessaloniki starting October 25, Ethiopian Airlines is expanding flights to Addis Ababa, and TAP Air Portugal extended its suspension until September 15.

German airline Condor launched a daily direct flight between Tel Aviv and Frankfurt, with the first plane landing at Ben-Gurion Airport on Saturday evening, August 1, 2026. This is Condor's first flight to Israel in 70 years—previously, the company had only operated a one-off demonstration flight for pilgrims. The first flight was completely full, with about 80% of passengers continuing on connecting flights to North America and East Asia. The launch comes amid Israel's heightened readiness for a possible resumption of hostilities against Iran and concerns about disruptions at Ben-Gurion Airport. On Sunday, August 2, Air Haifa opened ticket sales for a new route from Haifa to Thessaloniki (Greece), with the line starting operations on October 25, with prices from 89 euros one way. Air Haifa also reported that it carried about 58,000 passengers in July—twice as many as a year earlier, marking a record monthly figure. Ethiopian Airlines will expand flights on the Tel Aviv–Addis Ababa route starting August 3, adding five weekly flights, bringing the total to 26. Meanwhile, TAP Air Portugal extended its suspension of flights until September 15. The Lufthansa Group will increase the number of flights to Israel to 54 per week in August, Swiss will resume a daily flight to Zurich, Austrian will increase frequency to 14 flights per week, and Brussels Airlines will resume one flight to Brussels. Israir will resume direct flights to Marrakech starting in September, with prices from $299.