Air India will restart direct flights between Delhi and Tel Aviv on December 1, restoring the only non-stop service between India and Israel, Onmanorama reported on September 29, citing PTI.
The return of the route gives Israel a direct link to one of its key long-haul source markets after flights were suspended earlier in 2026 during the Israel-Iran conflict and the closure of Israeli airspace. The route is also expected to shorten journey times for Indian travellers who otherwise connect through third countries.
The service will operate five times a week using Boeing 777 aircraft. Air India flight AI139 will leave Delhi at 5am and arrive in Tel Aviv at 8.30am, with a flight time of about seven hours. Return flight AI140 will leave Tel Aviv at 10.30am and arrive in Delhi at 7.45pm, with a flight time of about five hours and 45 minutes.
Air India launched the route in 2018, cutting travel time compared with the earlier routing via Jordan. The restart date had been pushed back several times before the Israeli Ministry of Tourism confirmed the December 1 resumption.
“The return of Air India’s direct flights is an important development for tourism between India and Israel,” Galit Hoffman, consul for tourism affairs at Israel’s Ministry of Tourism in India, said, according to Onmanorama.
India was already a significant source market for Israel before the Covid-19 pandemic, with nearly 70,000 Indian visitors a year.