As Southeast Florida’s Jewish population continues to grow, El Al Airlines announced that it will increase flights to and from the region, including new operations at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, the state’s second-largest county after Miami-Dade.
The move comes less than a year after the Israeli company relocated its headquarters from New York to the Sunshine State.
More than 100,000 people flew El Al’s Miami to Tel Aviv route in 2022, which highlighted a need for more flights in Florida, stated the airline. This spring, El Al will increase its weekly flights from Miami International Airport to Ben-Gurion International Airport from five to six.
In September, El Al plans to debut direct flights from Fort Lauderdale to Israel, at first seasonally around the High Holidays (in mid- and late September) and Sukkot (late September into October). By the spring of 2024, El Al intends to have daily service to Israel from the Fort Lauderdale airport.
Mayor of Broward County Lamar Fisher stated that the new El Al service “will help to boost business, tourism and trade opportunities between the Middle East and Broward County.”
In a release, Marc Cavaliere, El Al’s senior vice president for the Americas, noted that “as demand for travel continues to increase from Florida to Israel, across all segments, we’re confident that the new service to Fort Lauderdale will exceed our customers’ expectation for service, convenience and value.”
