Israeli airline Arkia is extending the operation of its new route to New York until at least October and will add new European destinations as it is betting that Israelis will eagerly return to book their holidays abroad during the spring and summer peak seasons.

“We see that the Israeli tourist is gradually returning to planning long-term vacations, alongside last-minute spontaneous vacations”, said Arkia CEO, Oz Berlowitz, and added: “After a challenging year and a half of war, there is a need to catch some fresh air”.

“At the same time, we are living in a reality where war can return but we have shown that Israeli carriers will always continue to operate when foreign airlines are halting their operation”, Berlowitz added.

The announcement comes after Arkia launched direct roundtrip flights from Tel Aviv to New York in early February, marking the airline’s first time flying to the United States. The Israeli carrier originally planned to operate the route for a period of three months starting February 8. Berlowitz said that since the route was launched it has been operating with almost 90 percent capacity.

The debut of Arkia’s long-haul flight comes as flagship carrier El Al has maintained a monopoly status on the New York route since US carriers have been staying away for most of the past year due to security concerns amid the ongoing war with the Hamas terror group. The lack of competition has led to a severe shortage of seat availability while driving up ticket prices.

Arkia will continue to operate three weekly flights from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport that take off on Saturday nights just before midnight, and during the week on Mondays and Wednesdays but leave at noon.

Arkia announced that the carrier has 12 planes and plans to launch new routes and fly to 30 destinations, mainly in Europe from March. To mark the launch of the new routes and entice Israelis to book their holidays for the spring and summer seasons, the Israeli airline is rolling out a discount of 20% on all its destinations, apart from the New York route, from Sunday until March 15.

Starting in June and July, Arkia will be flying to three new cities — Calamata, Skiathos, and Volos – which add up to 11 destinations in Greece that the carrier will be operating in the coming months. Other new destinations include Zadar in Croatia, Lake Balaton in Hungary, Tirana in Albania and Madrid in Spain.