The Italian airline ITA Airways announced it will resume flights between Tel Aviv and Rome airports starting in March this year.
At first, there will be three flights per week, and the airline may add more during the summer depending on geopolitical changes.
More specifically, in March, the company will operate flight departures from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 15:20 (local time) and arrive at Rome’s Fiumicino airport at 18:05 (local time).
Whereas the departures from Rome will be operated on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 10:00 (local time) and will arrive at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport at 14:20 (local time).
The restart of flights between Tel Aviv and Rome was also possible thanks to cooperation with Italian and Israeli authorities, and it is strategically important for ITA Airways as it strengthens the commercial, social, and cultural relations between the two markets.
The airline further revealed that in the 2024 summer season, starting March 31, it will operate departures from Tel Aviv every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 14:30, arriving in Rome at 17:15.
Meanwhile, the departures from Rome will be every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 9:10, arriving in Tel Aviv at 13:30.
According to the company, this flight schedule provides convenient transfer options from Israel to various ITA Airways international destinations, especially North America.
In addition to ITA Airways, eight other European airlines partially resumed flights to Tel Aviv last month. However, the airline companies pointed out that their decision may change upon security developments.
Furthermore, Lufthansa Group (including SWISS and Austrian airlines), Tarom, and Aegean resumed their flights to Tel Aviv earlier in January.
On the other hand, last month, the Latvian airline, AirBaltic, extended the suspension of all flights to and from Tel Aviv until March this year. The company noted that this decision came due to uncertainties related to the current situation in Israel.
After the October 7th Hamas attacks last year, several airlines have either cancelled or decreased their flights to Israel. Israeli airlines such as El Al, Israir, and Arkia operated most of the limited flights during that period.
Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv experienced a notable decrease in foreign passengers and flights during that time. According to their monthly report, in October 2023, the airport registered 1,172,435 international passengers, which is 41.25 per cent less than in October 2022.
