UK carrier Virgin Atlantic has restarted flights between London Heathrow and Tel Aviv starting yesterday, after a six months hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Virgin Atlantic is operating three flights this week with the first departing Heathrow on Sunday afternoon and returning to London from Ben Gurion airport this morning.
Two more flights are scheduled this week from the UK to Israel on Wednesday and Thursday and returning to London on Friday and Saturday. From next week there will be four weekly flights and from mid-October daily flights.
It remains to be seen whether there will be enough demand while the Covid19 virus is still raging. Non-Israeli passport holders are still banned from entering Israel while Israelis entering the UK must isolate there for 14 days. However, because the UK is defined by Israel as a 'green' low infection country, Israelis do not need to isolate when returning home.
Virgin Atlantic becomes the fourth carrier currently operating scheduled services between London and Tel Aviv. British Airways and easyJet each operate three weekly flights and Wizz Air operates one weekly flight.
Virgin Atlantic inaugurated its London Heathrow - Tel Aviv route last September with daily flights until they were halted in March and plans to begin two daily flights from March 2021.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 7, 2020 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020