LONDON – Icelandair has just announced Tel Aviv, Israel as a new destination on its route network for the 2023 summer season.

From May 10 through to October 29 2023, the airline will offer direct flights three times a week between Keflavik Airport and Tel Aviv, on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Flight time from Iceland is around seven hours.

Demand for flights between Tel Aviv and Iceland has been rapidly increasing and the new gateway also opens convenient connections between Tel Aviv and North America, via Iceland.

Tel Aviv is Israel’s second largest city and offers visitors a mix of beautiful beaches, historical places, museums and galleries.

The close proximity to popular destinations of Jerusalem, Jordan, Bethlehem and the Dead Sea will allow Icelanders and transatlantic tourists alike the opportunity to explore more of this beautiful area.

The new route will also give Tel Aviv locals more travel options to be able to explore Iceland, and greater connectivity to the US.

Bogi Nils Bogason, Icelandair CEO said:“Tel Aviv is an exciting new destination, a perfect fit to our business model and allows us to offer convenient connections between Israel and North America.”

“It is also a great addition to the diverse destinations available for our home market, to and from Iceland, with an interesting mix of culture, history and sunny beaches.”

Icelandair November performance

Icelandair has also just released its November performance figures, showing a promising rise in capacity to near pre-pandemic levels.

In November 2022, the number of Icelandair‘s passengers was just over 250 thousand, compared to 170 thousand in November last year. Capacity in November was 96% of 2019 levels. 

The number of passengers on international flights was 227 thousand compared to 151 thousand in November 2021, an increase of 50%. The number of passengers to Iceland was 95 thousand and from Iceland 49 thousand.

Via passengers were around 82 thousand. On time performance on international flights was 91%. The load factor on international flights was 73%, compared to 71% in November 2021.

The number of passengers on domestic flights was 23 thousand, compared to 19 thousand in November 2021. On time performance was 87%. The load factor on domestic flights was 76% compared to 79% in November 2021.

Sold block hours in charter flights increased by 11%. Freight measured in Freight Ton Kilometers decreased by 28% compared to November last year.

The decrease in both export and transit markets is partly driven by less available freight capacity on passenger flights flown on more fuel efficient B737 MAX aircraft.

2023 network expansion

As well as the addition of Tel Aviv services, the airline has announced upcoming additions to its European and US networks recently, with the inauguration of flights to Prague and Barcelona set for Summer 2023.

As part of its seasonal flights, Icelandair will also operate a service four times weekly to Detroit, Michigan from May through October 2023.