American Airlines has announced it will not be resuming flights to Israel until September 2025, in one of the longest air service suspensions applied so far in Israel’s year-plus war against Hamas and Hezbollah, and the longest by any US carrier.

The Dallas-headquartered firm has not flown to Israel since Hamas’s deadly incursions into the so-called Gaza Envelope on 7 October 2023. It had previously cancelled flights until May 2024, with an extension then issued to March 2025 after recent escalations in hostilities.

“To provide certainty”

Now, the airline, which operates more daily flights and carries more scheduled passengers than any other in the world, has added another six months to its suspension of services to Israel and will not fly there before September 2025.

“To provide customers with certainty when planning travel to Tel Aviv, we are expanding our travel alert to allow customers whose travel plans are impacted to rebook their itinerary for travel involving a partner airline or cancel for a refund,” the airline said in a statement.

Could other airlines follow suit?

Other major international carriers such as Delta, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, and easyJet, have also deleted Israel from schedules until March and April 2025 but with updates to policies on routes to Israel coming thick and fast, aviation industry commentators are predicting that the American Airlines announcement could precipitate a further wave of extended flight suspensions.