On August 24, 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration granted Israir final approval to operate scheduled flights between Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport and New York’s JFK. The sign-off clears the last regulatory hurdle for the Israeli carrier’s first scheduled US route.
Israir plans to launch nonstop service on October 19, though it says the approval arrived earlier than expected and it may start sooner. The airline becomes the third Israeli carrier flying the route nonstop, after El Al and Arkia, which added its own Tel Aviv-New York service in February 2025.
A Widebody Debut With Ex-American Jets
Israir has historically flown narrowbody Airbus A320-family jets on European and domestic routes, so the New York launch marks its first widebody, long-haul operation. As Simple Flying reported, the airline paid roughly $85 million for two ex-American Airlines Airbus A330-200s, registered 4X-BAK and 4X-BAL, that were delivered to US Airways in 2010 and stored since American grounded its A330 fleet in 2020.
The jets keep American’s old 247-seat layout: 20 lie-flat business seats, 21 premium-economy seats and 206 economy seats, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. Israir has authority to fly up to six weekly round trips on the route.
Why the Approval Took This Long
A foreign airline cannot simply start flying to the United States. It first needs a Foreign Air Carrier Permit from the Department of Transportation, issued under the terms of a bilateral air services agreement between the two countries, then a separate operational safety approval from the FAA before it can carry passengers.
The DOT granted Israir a two-year temporary version of that permit in April 2025, a step Aviation Week reported at the time. This month’s FAA clearance is the final piece, confirming Israir’s operations meet US safety standards.
A route that keeps getting disrupted
Tel Aviv service has been unusually volatile since the war that began in October 2023. Delta, United and American all suspended flights at various points, and disruptions keep recurring: earlier this month a labor strike at Ben Gurion sent two long-haul flights turning back mid-flight.
United and Delta are due to resume their own Tel Aviv service in September 2026, while American has pushed its return back to March 2027. Against that backdrop, Ben Gurion Airport has also seen its own operational disruptions this year, adding to the uncertainty around any carrier’s schedule on the route.
Israir said the approval “represents international confidence on the part of the FAA in the company’s quality, safety, and operational reliability,” according to a statement first carried by VINnews. The airline added it was “excited to expand our destinations map to North America, to boost competition in the market.”
El Al has long dominated the corridor with multiple daily flights, and fares spiked as high as $7,000 round trip when other carriers pulled out during the worst of the fighting. A third nonstop operator gives price-sensitive travelers another option, even if the near-term effect on fares is likely to be modest.
Sources and references used for research and fact-checking.
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