United Airlines says after a ‘detailed safety analysis’ it will restart flights to Israel in March

CHICAGO (AP) — United Airlines says it plans to resume flights to Israel next month, reviving a route that was suspended in October at the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The airline said Wednesday that it will start flights from Newark, New Jersey, to Tel Aviv with a stop in Munich on March 2 and March 4. United said it hopes to begin daily service on March 6 and to add a second daily flight as soon as May.

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines also stopped flying to Tel Aviv after the war started and have not announced when service might resume. Germany’s Lufthansa and its affiliates Austrian Airlines and Swiss brought back flights to Tel Aviv in January, followed by Air France. Other European carriers have said they plan to restart flights to Israel this spring.

United said it conducted “a detailed safety analysis” and consulted security experts and government officials in both countries before deciding to resume the flights. The airline said it also worked with the two unions that represent its pilots and flight attendants.

The Chicago-based airline said it will evaluate whether to resume flights this fall to Israel from San Francisco, Chicago and Dulles airport outside Washington, D.C.