Update, 10/1: Virgin Atlantic was supposed to resume flights to Israel after a 12 month hiatus since 10/7/23. Unfortunately, that will be extended to at least an 18 month hiatus.
The airline tells DansDeals that,
“Following our continuous security and safety assessment and after careful consideration, we have taken the difficult decision to extend our pause on flying to and from Tel Aviv until the end of March 2025. We sincerely apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused. Affected customers will receive an email outlining options available to them, which include rebooking for a later date next year or a full refund and in the meantime, customers can benefit from our partnership with EL AL which operates multiple daily flights between Heathrow and Ben Gurion Airport.”
Flights through 3/30/25 will be cancelled over the coming days. After flights are officially canceled, rebooking will be available on El Al. The airline will make a decision on a summer 2025 schedule at a later date.
Update, 9/12: Virgin Atlantic tells DansDeals that,
“After an eleven month pause, we’re pleased to resume our daily Tel Aviv services from 25 September as planned. Following the latest safety and security assessment our flights departing London will operate at different timings and via Larnaca, Cyprus to allow for a crew change, before continuing to Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv. Flights departing Tel Aviv will travel directly back to London Heathrow. We look forward to welcoming our Tel Aviv customers back very soon.”
VS453 was scheduled to fly from London/LHR to Tel Aviv at 4:05pm, arriving at 11pm after a 4 hour and 55 minute flight. That will now be rebranded as VS457, departing London/LHR at 8:55pm and arriving into Larnaca at 3:25am. Passengers will remain onboard during a 95 minute tech stop, when the plane will change crews and refuel. It will then leave Larnaca at 5am and arrive into Tel Aviv at 6am, a 7 hour and 5 minute total journey time.
That is one unpleasant sounding redeye!
The tech stop allows Virgin to keep their crews based in Larnaca instead of Tel Aviv.
This schedule will remain in effect through October 26th, and will be reassessed based on the situation.
The return flight VS454 will remain unchanged, flying nonstop from Tel Aviv at 7:35am and arriving into London/LHR at 11:10am, a journey of 5 hours and 35 minutes.
These changes will be published on the Virgin site and itineraries will be updated over the coming days.
If you don’t like the new schedule, you can request a refund. Virgin has also been offering rebooking onto El Al, though it’s unclear if that will still be offered as an option for passengers who were booked nonstop and will now be making a tech stop.
Notably, BA also makes a tech stop in Larnaca from London to Tel Aviv and flies back nonstop, though effective on October 1st, they will fly nonstop from London to Tel Aviv and will make the tech stop in Larnaca on the return from Tel Aviv to London. That tech stop will operate through at least December 1st.
However, BA operates their Tel Aviv flight with a narrowbody A321neo, while Virgin will use a widebody A330-300.
El Al operates nonstop flights between London/LHR and Tel Aviv in both directions. El Al and Wizzair operate nonstop flights between London/LTN and Tel Aviv in both directions.
Originally posted on 8/14:
Virgin Atlantic hasn’t flown to Israel since October 7th.
The airline had planned to return on September 5th, but will push the return back again.
The airline tells DansDeals that,
“Following the latest security and safety assessment and after careful consideration we have taken the difficult decision to delay the restart of our Tel Aviv services. Daily flights are now planned to resume on 25 September from London to Tel Aviv. We’d like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused. Our teams will be in contact with anyone affected to discuss options, which include rebooking to a later date or a full refund and in the meantime, customers can benefit from our partnership with EL AL which operates multiple daily flights between Heathrow and Ben Gurion Airport. We remain committed to our services to Israel and look forward to resuming flights to Tel Aviv as soon as the situation permits.”
Virgin notes that the restart date is subject to a safety and security assessment at the time. Customers will be contacted with their rebooking and refund options, or they can call in to discuss options.
Virgin also notes that it “is the only UK airline to have a codeshare with Israel’s national carrier, El Al. Virgin Atlantic’s code operates on El Al’s services between London Heathrow and Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport, allowing customers greater choice and flexibility when travelling between the two countries.”
Virgin won kudos for how they handled expenses and rebookings with its original cancelations.
Were you booked to Israel on Virgin?
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49 Comments On "Virgin Extends Israel Hiatus To At Least 18 Months"
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I did not have any tickets canceled with them but I will say on a recent flight from JFK to lhr I was very impressed with their announcement if you need to pray you may stand on the side that doesn’t disturb others I have yet to hear this with other airlines.
Stand or kneel?
Will tey allow rebooking on ELAL? they didn’t state anything about that!
i booked virgin through KLM , will virgin rebook me ?
Anyone?
My son has a return flight (4th leg out of 4 legs total) on Virgin on Sept. 5th (which was the “first flight” from LHR-TLV after the “temporary pause”). Their website still shows that his flight is on schedule (although they’re only selling new reservations on El Al) and they can’t make a no-charge change until the policy change officially takes place. They said I should wait for the email (along with everyone else).
Right now, Virgin only show availability on El Al in the Premium Economy class (my son’s ticket is either Economy Classic or Economy Delight). Would they “upgrade” his reservation for that portion of his itinerary or would they tell me, “Sorry, but your reservation does not qualify” ?
I was rather disappointed that my son’s LHR-TLV flight on Virgin Atlantic was not cancelled in the first round. That prevented me from doing an earlier no-charge rebooking on El Al. Now most of the seats are taken already.
Just called Virgin hoping they will rebook on El Al flight from London. They told me that it is not yet postponed in their system. Has anyone had success with this?
You’ll have to wait for them to officially cancel it or for them to contact you.
They were ready to rebook me elal but there were no availibilities.
i was advised that the cancellation is expected within 48 hours so assume if not overnight tonight london time, prob some point tomorrow
Yeah, I got the email at 5:30am today. However, the email states that customers can’t take any action until Virgin updates their system on Aug. 17 (Shabbos). 2+ hours on the phone with Virgin getting nowhere bears that out.
Thanks for nothing, Virgin.
Parents booked on 9/17 from TLV to JFK via LHR on VS7491 (operated by LY209). In your experience, should this be ‘safe’ and still operate? I.E. will LY just swap in their own livery?
IMHO, any flight operated by LY (El Al) has the greatest likelihood of proceeding as scheduled. In your case (& mine) it’s a scheduled El Al flight that is code-shared with Virgin.
Is it worth booking a flight for after sept 25 for rosh hashana (sept 30-oct 7) on virgin hoping they will rebook me? Because rosh hashana dates on ELAL are nearly all booked out.
Well, very likely, if and when Virgin cancels flights to Israel post-09/25, El Al WILL be FULLY booked and Virgin doesn’t have their own stash of seats. However, if there are seats but in a higher level within the class you chose on Virgin (i.e., Premium Economy vs. Basic Economy) you MAY be bumped up. Or not. Less likely if the only seats are in a higher class (i.e. Business or First).
Dan, do you think it’s a good idea to book a flight for Rosh Hashanah (9/30-10/6) on Virgin, even though they haven’t officially canceled yet? We’re hoping they will rebook us on EL AL, even if it means having a stopover, because EL AL’s Rosh Hashanah flights are almost sold out.
I had a flight out of TLV to LHR to JFK which just got cancelled. – Sept 22nd – I was able to change my ticket via phone either one day later on LY to LHR or the same day nonstop to JFK on Delta. No Charge!
Nice bc if delta cancel good chance of getting elal nonstop
When were you notified of the Sept. 22 cancelation? I have a Sept. 5 flight and it’s still not “officially” canceled.
Why do you color pushing back when what they’re doing is pushing it ahead?
Because that’s not how it works.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/push-back
Thanks. But still doesn’t make sense that it means that…
Will Virgin resume flights from Israel on the 25th of September, or they also will push the return back? I have a Delta ticket booked on Virgin flight on the 26th from TLV. How can I rebook it?
95 min is long for a tech stop; 45 min would be more reasonable.
It’s to change crews for security reasons. I just got off the phone with them.
Why 95 min? Isn’t that unnecessarily long?!
1. you think United will now come back soon to nyc-tlv now that things have allegedly calmed down?
2. whats really behind the technical stop what do they fear?
1. Not anytime soon.
2. Probably that their employees don’t want to stay in Israel.
What a nightmare! The JFK 23:59 flight arrives at LHR AT 12:15. It just became an almost 9 hour layover instead of an almost 4 hour layover. Now what?
Ask to be rebooked onto El Al or take a refund.
Dan, where did you obtain the updated itinerary for VS453? Is it a direct response from them? The one I spoke to didn’t have access to the revised itinerary, and in the email they wrote that it will be updated over the upcoming weekend.
“Virgin Atlantic tells DansDeals that…”
I am now showing 1 AVAILABLE B6 MILES REDEMPTION Total:84,900 pts + $17.90 JFK > TLV (AUH Layover: 8h 55m Operated by: Etihad)
Interesting date to re-launch TLV, as it’s the same date that Virgin Atlantic first started flying to TLV, exactly 5 years earlier, September 25, 2019.
https://corporate.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/media/press-releases/new-route-launch.html
Was on the Inaugural flight to TLV that day, and it was a lot of fun!
did u make A TR
Do they rebook their award seats for LY revenue classes?
I had a flight booked through Delta to London and then virgin Atlantic takes me to Israel. I’m wondering if I should cancel my Delta flight and rebook with virgin Atlantic so it is virgin Atlantic both parts of my flight. Any advice appreciated!
Is there any difference wether it is booked with Delta or virgin Atlantic. If virgin Atlantic is always the carrier that will bring me from the stop over to Israel.
yes I was leaving via Virgin but the handwriting was on the proverbial wall and I got rebooked on EL al.
Sorry if the wrong place but now
If you have virgin gold status and fly el al non codeshare will you still get elal soft product priority/security/lounge?
Thanks
@dan is this Virgin resuming still happening?
was wondering the same…have tix from TLV to JFK before Sukkos…via London
Time for an update…
Looks like virgin atlantic canceled flights again
Cool, and right
I am booked on Virgin for October 21st from TLV-JFK. I would be happy to be rebooked on Elal for October 27th or 28th. Would Virgin allow me to change my date up to a week later, or does it need to be within 1-2 days of original date?
Shouldn’t be a problem They’re very flexible with this,
I was rebooked Elal 3 times already over the last year they were always happy to rebook any Elal flight on that route whichever works for me
I booked biz through KLM and they wont move me to el al..what do you recommend?
we had tickets booked on virgin for chol hamoed to isreal and they got canceled but they can not find seats for us on elal- did anyone else have this issue? Is there anything to do about it?