EL AL Adds Fort Lauderdale to its Network, Boosts Capacity to Miami
The airline will increase its capacity to Miami and open a new U.S. gateway in Fort Lauderdale to meet the growing demand for flights to Tel Aviv
Photo: El Al Israel 1st 787-9 Dreamliner. Courtesy of Gail Hanusa / Boeing Commercial Airplanes
Israeli national carrier, EL AL, is boosting its presence in Florida by increasing flights to Miami International Airport (MIA) in May, and launching nonstop flights to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) in September.
Looking to meet demand on certain Jewish Holidays in September and October, the airline will fly to FLL on select days during the last quarter of the year, later upgrading to year-round, scheduled flights in Spring 2024.
EL AL’s decision to open a new South Florida gateway might respond to American Airlines dropping out of the market. The Dallas-based carrier decided to drop out of the Miami-Tel Aviv competition by axing its daily flights starting on March 24.
Now, with the addition of a sixth weekly flight from MIA (departing on Saturdays) and the opening of a new route to Fort Lauderdale, EL AL consolidates itself as the leading airline between South Florida and Israel.
Photo: El Al, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Miami International Airport. Courtesy of Andrés Dallimonti / Unsplash
“EL AL is thrilled to continue opening new routes and increasing our service in the U.S.,” said EL AL’s Senior Vice President for the Americas, Marc Cavaliere. “We’ll be operating more than 40 flights a week to Israel, continuing our mission to be The Bridge between Israel and the world.”
According to Cavaliere, the Israeli airline carried more than 100,000 passengers on its flights between Miami and Tel Aviv last year. “As demand for travel continues to increase from Florida to Israel, across all segments, we’re confident that the new service to Fort Lauderdale will exceed our customers’ expectation for service, convenience, and value.”
Fort Lauderdale is back in the Middle East
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport’s CEO, Mark E. Gale, believes that EL AL’s choice to launch nonstop flights from Tel Aviv “is a significant step forward as we strive to increase our portfolio of global airlines and destinations.”
Since Emirates dropped FLL in favor of MIA in 2020, the airport lost direct connectivity to the Middle East and the possibility of feeding connecting traffic through JetBlue’s former cooperation with the Dubai-based carrier.
Now, with EL AL’s nonstop flights to Israel, passengers living in the vicinities of FLL will regain access to EL AL’s connections through Tel Aviv.
With the addition of Fort Lauderdale to EL AL’s North American network, the Israeli carrier now flies from Tel Aviv to Miami, Boston, New York, Newark, and Los Angeles.
In addition to increasing capacity on routes to South Florida, EL AL recently relocated its North American regional headquarters to Margate, about 20 minutes north of Fort Lauderdale.
