Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air on Thursday resumed flights to Israel, becoming the latest airline and first European budget carrier to restore service after the outbreak of war with Iran in February.
The Budapest-based no-frills airline is renewing service to Tel Aviv across major European cities, including London, Rome, Budapest, Athens, Larnaca, Warsaw and Milan, and plans to run a full schedule to and from Israel during the busy summer season.
The popular European budget airline, which was the largest foreign carrier operating in Israel by passenger volume before the war, had planned on opening a hub at Ben-Gurion International Airport this spring, but the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran led all international carriers to suspend service to the region anew.
Their much-anticipated return to Tel Aviv follows an updated safety recommendation from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which softened its previous advisory against operating in Israeli airspace.
The airline’s resumption of service also comes against the backdrop of months-long negotiations to set up a hub in Israel, talks that were frozen by transportation officials angered over the airline’s repeated prior flight suspensions.
More than a dozen international airlines have resumed service to Tel Aviv, including two Emirati carriers, since the war against Iran began.
Major European carriers are currently planning to renew flights to Israel this summer. U.S. airlines, however, are scheduled to return to Israel starting in the fall.
Wizz Air, the third-largest low-cost carrier in Europe after the Dublin-based Ryanair and the London-based EasyJet, has kept European fares relatively low despite surging oil prices caused by the war.
Its long-planned hub would enable the Hungarian company to operate as many as 30 daily flights from Tel Aviv to destinations across Europe.
