EL AL Israel, the national airline of Israel, has resumed flying to Tel Aviv from South Florida after a more than two-week hiatus forced by military hostilities with Iran.
The first flight lifted out of Miami International Airport on Sunday, airport spokesman Greg Chin said Monday. “EL AL resumed Miami-Tel Aviv service yesterday,” he said. “They have their normal schedule this week.”
An El AL Boeing 787 took off from Miami at 2 p.m. Sunday, according to the tracking service FlightAware. Nearly 12 hours later, it landed at Ben Gurion International Airport.
The carrier has scheduled its first trip out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International this Friday, according to Arlene Satchell of the Broward County Aviation Department.
“We were advised that EL AL anticipates resuming the FLL-Tel Aviv flights on Friday, July 4,” she said.
EL AL suspended all of its regularly scheduled commercial flights worldwide on June 13 after the nation’s armed forces launched a series of air attacks against Iran’s nuclear sites and key military leaders.
The move resulted in the immediate suspensions of flights for Israel-bound travelers from Florida who had booked flights out of Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
Ben Gurion, the starting and end point for most of Israel’s international flights, was closed.
Logjams of stranded travelers
Ensuing exchanges of air attacks with Iran left up to 40,000 tourists stranded in Israel, according to the Ministry of Tourism. The travel alternatives were limited and risky.
They included overland journeys by taxis and buses to border crossings with Jordan and Egypt. In addition, a marine route via cruise vessels from Israel created a connection for private organizations to arrange group trips out of the region, with chartered flights taking off from Cyprus in the Mediterranean to the U.S., Europe and elsewhere in the Middle East.
An Israeli air defense system is shown intercepting missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv in mid-June. Now that missile exchanges have ceased, EL AL Israel Airlines has resumed regular commercial service, including to South Florida. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A Tampa-based group called Grey Bull Rescue, in a joint operation with the Florida Division of Emergency Management, moved hundreds of evacuees out of Cyprus. Another group, Project Dynamo, which had rescued Americans evacuating Afghanistan in 2021, used its connections to fly a group of touring veterans from Israel to Miami.
Last week, EL AL deployed “repatriation” flights to bring Israeli citizens stranded abroad back home. The Times of Israel placed the numbers of Israelis trying to return home at between 100,000 and 150,000.
The airline also operated outbound flights for foreign tourists stranded in Israel with 50-passenger limits per flight for security reasons.
But now, EL AL has returned to serving all of the U.S. cities on its regular schedule. Besides the two South Florida cities, the other destinations are New York’s JFK International Airport, Boston and Los Angeles.
In April 2026, however, the airline will be dropping service at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International. In a business consolidation move, all EL Al flights to and from South Florida will be landing only at Miami International Airport.