Nonstop flights from San Francisco to Tel Aviv are officially back on the calendar. El Al said on Monday it will resume direct service between Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport and San Francisco International Airport on October 25, with three weekly round-trip flights, restoring a link that has been suspended since early 2020.
Tickets went on sale Monday. Early public pricing has round-trip economy fares landing in the low to mid $1,000s, with one U.S. report citing a starting price of $1,299 and Israeli coverage noting Classic economy from about $1,199, depending on date and booking class. Those advertised economy fares include checked baggage and seat selection in the listed fare bucket, according to Ynet.
Coverage of the airline’s announcement, via a Reuters dispatch republished on MarketScreener, noted that the outbound flight from Israel will carry the number LY49, a nod to the San Francisco 49ers. The service is scheduled for Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, with block times of roughly 15 hours, and the report confirmed the October 25 start date and three times weekly frequency as laid out in El Al’s plan.
Route Part Of Wider Growth Push
El Al is not treating San Francisco as a one-off. The carrier is folding the SFO link into a broader expansion that adds more U.S. capacity this winter, along with several new global destinations. The airline says its winter schedule will feature about 45 weekly nonstop flights to six U.S. cities, and it is pitching the San Francisco route as an answer to demand from business travelers and the Bay Area’s sizable Israeli community, according to the company’s comments reported by Ynet.
What Travelers Should Know
The new San Francisco service is slated to run on El Al’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, the airline’s long-haul workhorse. Schedules are being built to connect conveniently to onward North American destinations. Industry reporting indicates the flights will operate on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays on Dreamliner equipment, with AirlineGeeks outlining the planned schedule and aircraft details.
El Al is also leaning on its partnership with Delta Air Lines to make the route more appealing. A cooperation agreement between the two carriers will allow passengers to connect across North America and earn reciprocal points, as reported by CBS News.
Why The Bay Area Matters
For the Bay Area, the return of nonstop service brings back a direct West Coast bridge heavily used by tech and business travelers, along with the region’s large Israeli diaspora. El Al previously flew between SFO and Tel Aviv until pausing the route in the early stages of the pandemic. The airline says the reinstated schedule is meant to deepen ties between Silicon Valley and Israel’s tech and business sectors, according to announcement coverage cited by MarketScreener.
Travelers can book the new flights through El Al’s website and via travel agents. Exact departure times and terminal assignments will be finalized and published in airline and airport schedules as the October launch approaches. For now, passengers should be ready for some seasonal swings in fares and seat availability as the carrier rolls out the route and ramps up its winter flying program, per El Al.
