Airlines Post Tentative Renewal of Flights to Israel in June

Some 100 commercial airlines have announced dates for resuming flights to Israel, but many predicate this on Israel’s changing its two-week quarantine policy for arrivals to the country.

Among the airlines are Air Canada, Delta, British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, Alitalia, and Lufthansa, according to an Yisrael Hayom report.

“As long as there is a requirement to quarantine, those with foreign passports can’t enter Israel,” said Israel Airports Authority spokesperson Ofer Lafler, adding that “we need to try to open a lab here to conduct serological testing for coronavirus – either by swabs or blood tests, upon entry and exit.”

Lafler noted that some 7,000 people entered or exited Israel in the past month, commenting that processing this number of passengers in a normal summer season would take “less than an hour’s work.”

A recent Channel 12 report underscores the importance of the lab Lafler hopes will be set up. The Israeli study showed that 70% of Israel’s coronavirus cases were caused by travelers arriving from the United States.