Two intriguing new airline routes will soon connect Israel and South Florida.
El Al, the national airline of Israel, revealed on Wednesday that Fort Lauderdale would be a new stop on its travel itinerary.
El Al will start nonstop service for a brief period beginning on September 13 during the Jewish high holidays, which extend into mid-October, from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport (TLV).
After that, El Al will launch year-round service out of Fort Lauderdale at an unannounced time in the spring of 2024.
On September 13, 20, and 27, as well as October 5, 10, and 12, El Al will operate new flights that are already available for booking on the airline's website.
In addition to the newly added service to Fort Lauderdale, the airline will increase its currently intermittent service from Miami International Airport (MIA) to Tel Aviv (TLV) by adding a sixth weekly trip.
Six weekly flights on a long-distance route are the closest El Al can come to daily service since it does not operate on the Jewish Shabbat.
All El Al flights to and from South Florida will use the new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which have a three-cabin layout with first-rate business-class pods, roomy premium economy recliners, and a lot of extra-legroom seating options in the economy cabin.
El Al's decision comes as the airline steps in to cover a significant gap created by American Airlines, which recently announced that it was leaving the Miami to Tel Aviv market in an unexpected turn of events.
With a 273-seat Boeing 777-200, American initially flew the new Miami route in an eastbound way on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays starting in June 2021.
Almost 16 months after it originally began, on October 28, 2022, the airline increased the route to daily service due to the route's popularity.
A smaller Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 234 seats now flies the route, although the daily frequency significantly increased market capacity.
Three months later, however, American made a U-turn and announced that the service will be discontinued as of March 24.
Without offering a reason, American attributed the cut to the "constant review of our network."
El Al alone carried more than 100,000 passengers on 450+ flights between Miami and Tel Aviv throughout 2022. South Florida is a significant market for origin and destination travel to and from Israel.
Hence, it would seem logical for the carrier to take advantage of American's pullback with its own significant service growth.
El Al's senior vice president for the Americas, Marc Cavaliere, stated in a statement that "as demand for travel from Florida to Israel continues to increase across all segments, we're confident that the new service to Fort Lauderdale will exceed our customers' expectations for service, convenience, and value."
A major beneficiary of the El Al announcement is FLL, which hasn't had a direct flight to the Middle East since Emirates abandoned the airport at the beginning of the pandemic and relocated its operations some 30 miles to the south to Miami.
El Al's declaration was made the same week FLL released concept art for its recently planned five-gate Terminal 5, which might be realized in the upcoming years.
Although FLL is smaller and easier to handle than Miami, the area's largest and busiest airport, travelers who live in or are visiting places north of Fort Lauderdale will probably prefer the simplicity of flying from FLL.
Whether there is sufficient demand for service from two South Florida airports to Israel is unknown, but it does operate in the New York region, where several major airlines, including El Al, offer up to eight flights per day from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Tel Aviv.
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