Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific has extended its suspension of flights to Israel until March 2025, Israeli newspaper Globes reported.
Like all foreign airlines, Cathay Pacific initially suspended flights to Israel after October 7, the date the war on Gaza began, and has since extended the suspension until March 2024 and then to October 2024.
Many foreign airlines have yet to resume flights to Israel, although EasyJet, American Airlines, Air Canada and others are scheduled to renew services to Tel Aviv in October 2024.
Cathay Pacific joins Turkish Airlines, which previously operated 12 daily flights from Istanbul to Tel Aviv, in not renewing the flights until next year.
Before the war, Cathay Pacific operated 3 weekly flights between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv.
Israeli tourism losses
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 288,000 tourists entered Israel between January and April 2024, compared to 1.3 million who visited in the same period in 2023, meaning the tourism sector lost 80% year-on-year.
Israel received 3 million tourists the year before the war, pumping up to $5 billion into its economy, before the war caused most tourism-related sectors to stop working.
