With 80% of El Al’s workforce on unpaid leave, YNet is reporting that El Al will be suspending service on most routes starting next week.
That follows Israel’s mandatory quarantine requirements for everyone arriving from abroad.
YNet is reporting that El Al will maintain limited service only to JFK, Newark, Toronto, London, Paris and Johannesburg.
Looking at flights currently for sale, here is how things look on select routes to Tel Aviv:
- Flights from JFK to Tel Aviv will be reduced to just 1 per day starting on March 17. Up to 3 daily flights may resume on March 29, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- Flights from Newark to Tel Aviv will be reduced to just 1 per day starting on March 17. Up to 2 daily flights may resume on March 29, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- The final Los Angeles to Tel Aviv flight will be March 19th. Flights may resume on March 29, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- The final Miami to Tel Aviv flight will be March 18th. Flights may resume on March 29, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- The final Boston to Tel Aviv flight will be March 12th. Flights may resume on March 26, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- The final San Francisco to Tel Aviv flight will be March 16th. Flights may resume on March 29, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- The final Las Vegas to Tel Aviv flight will be March 14th. Flights may resume on April 4, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- Service from Toronto to Tel Aviv reduced to 2 weekly flights, on Sunday and Thursday. 3 weekly flights may resume on March 29, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- Flights from Paris to Tel Aviv will be reduced to just 1 per day. Up to 4 daily flights may resume on March 29, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- The final Brussels to Tel Aviv flight will be March 16th. Daily flights may resume on March 29, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- Service from London/LTN is suspended. 2 daily flights may resume on March 29, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- Service from London/LHR is reduced to one daily flight. 2 daily flights may resume on March 29, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- Service from Johannesburg is reduced to one weekly flight on Mondays in March. 3 weekly flights may resume in April, based on demand and if Israel lifts the quarantine.
- Service launch from Chicago will be delayed until 6/28
El Al is requesting a $700MM bailout from Israel due to the quarantine.
In other Israel news, Prime Minister Netanyahu will address Israel shortly and is expected to announced the closure of schools until at least after Pesach.
It doesn’t appear that Israel’s worldwide quarantine will end anytime soon either. Israel’s ministry of health is saying that students who go home for Pesach will not be allowed back as a dorm is not sufficient for home quarantine.
If you have plans to spend Pesach in Israel you’ll need to assume at this point that they should be cancelled unless you have a method to home quarantine for 2 weeks there. Hotel rooms are not sufficient for home quarantine, though renting an Airbnb should work.
How have your travel plans been disrupted due to coronavirus?
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69 Comments On "El Al Will Suspend Most Flights Worldwide, Israeli Schools Cancelled, Don’t Expect Student Reentry After Pesach"
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then we will have to make all the bucherim & all the girls chasanim & kallahs, amen.
Not really….. What it means is that yeshivas and seminaries will kashur their kitchens and offer Pesach Sedarim and yomtov meals. Local families will have an opportunity for the mitzvah of hosting them for meals (if circumstances permit).
Very likely. It will make it the opposite of Yordim laRegel. Maybe the bocherim or their parents will try in some way to reimburse those generous families!
How about ATH-TLV in April? Are they cancelling these?
El Al is waiting to see what happens with demand and the quarantine before deciding on flights from March 29 and on.
That really depends if I will even be able to make such a decision in the future. It may be good times for us and the end of El Al
If they are going to one flight a day would they actually cancel the 1 pm flight which looks to be 90 percent full , this Monday the 17th? What’s the chance? My son is on the flight.
The afternoon EWR-TLV on the 17th is cancelled.
I’m asking about the 1 pm to jfk . Any idea if that’s flying ?
1pm is in the afternoon. Dan replied
sorry im asking about the 16th 1 pm tlv-jfk
Is the US committed to bring home its citizens that are stuck in other countries without any viable way of returning home?
You should come home before flights cease.
We value your opinion but I feel safe saying that this is a question for roshei yeshiva and the like. It also doesnt appear to be any safer in america. So until that changes Im not rushing out of Eretz Yisroel. It is still a valid question if the US is commited to bring back its citizens. Also, we do have the charter option lined up over here which is cheaper than some of the regular ticket prices (for one way)
Israel doesn’t have the resources to treat non citizens
I would assume Israel will be treating all people, as it affects Israelis directly. They may send you a bill afterwards.
If you have Bituach Leumi, you should be no different from any other member of your Kupat Cholim
Do you know if the chartered flight is still available or who I can contact?
Just wait a bit and all flights will stop.
Certainly possible.
When will elal start canceling flights to newark
Read the post?
Dan you didn’t say anything about flights to Newark only from Newark. Elal has announced that they would use cargo one way.
Dan – do you have any advice for how I can contact El Al about the 12 tickets I have for a flight next week? They aren’t answering phones. Thanks very much.
What about flights from Tel Aviv to JFK next week? Are those being cancelled?
1:00 am on the 18th TLV-EWR still running?
Yeshiva boys returning home .. from Tel Aviv to Boston this motzei shabbat ON ELAL , technically its march 14 @ 12:30 am is this flight still ok? My daughter is due this week!!!
Call El Al, but it looks like it’s cancelled.
Students should stay in EY for Pesach. Its great here.
Good weather, and if you’re Chabad and a few others you only have to keep one day YT ::))
But seriously, why miss the last quarter of the year?
Cause yeshivos/schools are cancelled and israel doesn’t have the resources to treat them
Thanks dan for your helpful info, nor miss sarena are you sane? how do you know that? you are aware of Israeli resources?? if you were you probably wouldn’t be saying these things on dandeals…. also genius do you really thing that the US gov’t has resources for over 300 million ppl? they don’t… so stop making things up and causing panic and go by out your local supermarket…. we have plenty of chicken here but in NY…. there are not enough supplies…. seriously ppl like you make me believe in evolution why are you so dumb?
Healthcare resources
Why call people stupid ?
Sorry, I doubt the 5000 or so bochurim/Sem girls (who all happen to be under 70) will make or break the Israeli Healthcare System.
@C1sarena Has panicked and decided that Israel’s doesn’t have the resources. Honestly, comparing how there handling it here with the joke of how the US is handling it (non political – Trump, Coumo, Schumer, Mc-whatever-his-face-is Senate Majority leader, Dr Fouchi etc are all useless and grandstanding instead of making the hard decisions, and the uncenteralised system is not helping) it is more than likely that Israel is dealing with it better, and is better prepared for a successful outcome.
can anyone post the info going in the other direction? el al non stops to NYC and MIA
What about flights FROM tlv to ewr? Those r still ongoing?
I want my El Al flight for next week to be cancelled from TLV to LHR, but it looks like I got onto the one lucky flight per day that’s still running. Any ideas on how to get a full refund regardless? When I spoke to a rep yesterday all they were able to offer was a one year credit.
Dan,
UA 85 on the 25th do you think we will get home no problem?
originally an Austrian ticket, they want crazy money to change it.
yes, and my sister’s wedding was pushed off because of this 🙁
Does Elal need to notify me that my flight changed? I was on the 4:05pm flight to JFK on Sun & I got a seat reassignment email through which I realized I’m on a different flight & my 4 seats together became 3 middle seats & one window. 2 children ages 2 & 3 & a pregnant wife this is gonna be a fun one. I’ve been trying to call elal since & the call just drops… what a mess!!
That’s how they notified you, by sending that email. And yes, it’s a mess! Good luck getting it sorted out.
Bh you got a positive attitude!
some seminaries got together and are trying to Charter a flight to send everyone home
Having been through the seminary experience as a parent, they want to call it a year, close now and keep the money.
Semanary scam continues…..
Yeshivas are recommending that kids go “home” unless they have a non-elderly relative with whom they can stay .
All yeshivas?
No! R Asher Arielli shlita of the mir yerushalayim said very clearly no need to go home and not the proper thing to end zman early as well as R Avraham Yehoshua shlita in Brisk
Has anybody attempted to call ELAL? Their 1-800 number is “out of service”….
Try whatsapp?
+972 53-566-3033
Their Whatsapp number was changed to +97239771111 & they are only open sun – thurs 8:30-18:30.
hi dan if my flight was rescheduled on lot polish am i entitled to a refund i wasn’t able to get it on the website? my flights not till next week so is it better to wait & hope its canceled? thanks so much
If my flight was changed & I will now be landing 9 hours later than originally scheduled, am I entitled to compensation? The Israeli one is about $800 IINM
I have a flight with elal on the 24th from tlv-ord. On my online itinerary it shows as still active. i called and the agent said it has not been canceled. Does this agent just not know of the push-off of the chicago launch? is there a source i can reference so they’ll help me rebook?
All schools in Philadelphia closed!!!
They have online school
Dan,
My son is on elal tel aviv to jfk on mon March 16 at 1 pm. Is it still flying?
Did elal cancel flights from tel aviv to boston
Does it pay to wait till our flight jfk to tlv on 03/24 (and tlv to jfk 03/29) gets cancelled so as not to pay the cancellation fees or do you think they would cancel our tickets now without charging a fee since our trip was only for 5 days.
my daughter is on the 1230 am flight on March 17th to JFk is that going to be cancelled?
Does anyone have any advice about what to do for an ElAl flight to toronto on March 29 that is NOT cancelled as of yet. The travel agent said we can freeze it for use only until dec 2020, which really doesn’t help us. Is there a way to get a refund? We also have an air transat flight from toronto-montreal that cannot be canceled, only credited for later use. We are a lot of people. Any advice?
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/travel-tips/stop-cancelling-flights-early/
I’m aware of this. My husband also has a united flight on Wednesday that we’re not cancelling yet. Was just wondering if someone was successful in getting a refund because if our flight is not cancelled, we’re going to be out half of what we paid per ticket (because of the elal cancellation fee, plus the cost of the air transat ticket…). Whatever, it’s just a waste of money, but it’s just money…
Although EL AL is being nice about free changes, the travel agent wants $100 per ticket (times 8 tickets) to change the dates. El Al says it’s impossible for them to change the ticket, breaks agreement with agent (unless it’s less than 24 hours before the flight). Is there anything I can do? And generally speaking what is a better way to book an El Al ticket, with a Travel Agent or direct from El Al?
Could someone clarify a point. If Someone is flying for 10 days for Pesach and willing to quarantine, could they leave after 10 days or they have to wait four more days?
You need to wait 4 more days. You ticket must be for at least 14 days.
טיסתך אכן בוטלה, משום שמדובר בביטול עקב כוח עליון, חברת התעופה אינה מחוייבת לפעול מעבר לתנאי הכרטיס, יחד עם זאת, כמחווה שירותית, אנו נשמח להקפיא את כרטיסך כך שתוכל לממש את סכום הכרטיס לטיסה עתידית.
במקביל, ביטול יהיה בהתאם לתנאי הכרטיס. לכשנחזור לפעילות מלאה נשמח לעמוד לשירותך.
Got this with WhatsApp ing them. Does this mean they’re not issuing refunds?
Can someone please clarify my options:
My return flight EWR-TLV March 24 got cancelled and was shifted to a flight leaving from JFK. I don’t want to fly under such circumstances
Can I get a refund /or credit for the portion of the ticket?
This ticket was brought via alice.co.il. I’ve contacted Alice and they said no refund and no freezing as a portion of the ticket was used already.
I’d like to hear clarifications on this.
Can I get a refund due to El AL’s cancellation?
Can I get travel credit?
Can I freeze it? until when? on the website it says until 30/4/21 but an agent said no freezing and another agents said freezing until the extent of ticket- 3 months -which is May but I don’t want to return by then. I’d consider freezing if it’s for a period of year.
Dan, any suggestions? thanks!
You should be able to freeze. HUCA.
Not sure if El Al will be extending ticket validity. They probably don’t know themselves.
thank you Dan!