El Al Israel Airlines is set to return to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) this coming October, a route the airline previously flew up until 2020. The airline has had an on-again, off-again relationship with the San Francisco Bay since 1996, when it first started flying to the city. The resumed route will take off on October 25 with a thrice-weekly service.

El Al will be the only carrier flying between the two cities nonstop, and it adds to the airline’s modest US network, which includes Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Miami International Airport (MIA).

EL AL Returns To San Francisco This October

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Flying the route with the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner , El Al will offer a total of 271 passengers in a three-class configuration, with 32 seats in Business class, 35 in Premium Economy and 204 in Economy. This will see the airline provide a total of 813 seats weekly in each direction between the two cities.

The last time El Al flew to San Francisco was up until 2020. The Department of Transportation (DOT) data shows that a total of 44,000 passengers were transported during this period, with an average load factor onboard of around 66.9%, likely influenced by the COVID-19 Pandemic and the route being new.

More Options To Fly To Israel Are Coming Online

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El Al may not be the only airline flying nonstop from San Francisco to Tel Aviv for long, with United Airlines also planning a return to the route as soon as 2027. US DOT data shows that the American-based carrier transported close to a million round-trip passengers on the route when it last served the city pair.

A new airline also entered the Israel-US market this week, with Israir Airlines Israel beginning Airbus A330-200 service thrice weekly. The airline plans to increase this to four times a week from mid-next month, before going six times a week by December. Israir is an Israeli low-cost carrier, and the second-largest airline in Israel after El Al. The carrier’s new flights to New York will have three weekly frequencies, according to AeroRoutes.

Passengers onboard Israir can expect the basic, no-frills experience, with additional costs for checked baggage, seat selection, and onboard meals.

A Snapshot Of Israel To US Flights This November

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With Israir coming online and El Al returning to San Francisco this October, Simple Flying took a deep dive into November operations using data from Cirium, an online aviation analytics company. In November, El Al is the largest carrier on Israel-to-US flights, operating 42 weekly services in each direction.

El Al’s busiest route is JFK, where the airline has scheduled 16 weekly flights with a mix of the 777-200ER and 787-8. The airline’s second-largest gateway is Newark, with 11 weekly flights on the 777-200ER and 787-9.

United is the largest US carrier to Israel, with its Newark-to-Tel Aviv flights accounting for 18 weekly services with the 787-9 and 787-10, ahead of Delta Air Lines from JFK with seven weekly flights.