The news that so many Israelis were waiting for – a very significant return wave of international airlines. In the last two weeks, the return of the airlines has manifested itself in the most significant way.

The Lufthansa Group – which includes Swiss, Austrian and Lufthansa – was the first to announce the return of flights to Israel, and officially returned in early January. Along with it, the Romanian company Tarom also returned, and a little after them also the Greek Aegean

The return of these companies caused very significant airlines to announce their return to Israel, including Air France, Air Seychelles, Lot, Tus Airways, Blue Bird, Smartwings, Transavia and other airlines. The companies that announced the return to Israel will increase the competition and will fly to Paris, Prague, Athens, Larnaca, Bucharest and other destinations, among others.

One of the most significant news came over the weekend when two of the low-cost giants, who were also among the most active companies in Israel, announced their official return to Israel. Wizz Air will operate direct flights from Israel to six destinations throughout Europe, starting on March 1. The low-cost company will fly from Israel to Budapest, Bucharest, London, Sofia, Krakow and Rome.

Ryanair, which left many Israelis in a state of uncertainty until last Wednesday, canceled a very large number of flights, but kept flights to and from Israel to five destinations, starting on February 1. Ryanair will operate direct flights to Marseille, Baden-Baden, Memmingen, Vienna and Milan, and back.

The return of Wizz Air and Ryanair is expected to affect the prices of flights from Israel. Airline ticket pricing is mainly influenced by supply and demand, and so far the supply has been very limited in relation to demand, which is expected to change soon.

It is important to emphasize that all foreign airlines returning to Israel will do so with a much lower frequency than it was in the period before the war. However, it is estimated that the addition of destinations and frequencies will expand in the months after their return, and with the examination of the demand situation in Israel, which is expected to help lower flight prices.

In addition to the airlines that returned and those that will announce that they will return, there are foreign airlines that operated during most of the war period and some throughout it. Among these companies are Fly Dubai, which operates four flights a day on the Tel Aviv-Dubai route; Etihad; Ethiopian Airlines, which added flights and will operate 10 flights a week on the Addis Ababa-Tel Aviv route; Chinese Hainan; Red Wings; Azimuth; Uzbekistan and High Sky.