When Air Haifa launched last fall, becoming Israel’s first new commercial airline in over 30 years, the startup faced a major problem: It couldn’t operate out of Haifa due to war.

Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which had been on a low burn for a year, exploded into a full-scale war just as Air Haifa was due to take flight in October 2024. Rather than miss the winter holiday travel season, Air Haifa began its flights in and out of Israel’s main airport, Ben-Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv, until the January 2025 ceasefire enabled the reopening of Haifa’s airport.

Today, Air Haifa, a low-cost carrier that offers one-way fares, flies its twin-engine turboprops from Haifa to four destinations: Athens, Eilat and the Cypriot cities of Larnaca and Paphos—all popular spots for Israeli tourists. “Our mission is to offer convenient flights, quality and simple service, and comfortable fares,” airline co-founder Michael Strassburger said in an interview. “Since there has never been an Israeli airline based in the North, we identified a real need and demand.”

With dozens of foreign carriers having suspended or cut back flights to Israel since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war, travelers have flocked to Israeli carriers. Since the war’s start, Israel’s national carrier, El Al, has logged record profits, hitting $545 million in net profits in 2024, up a staggering 470 percent from its 2023 figure of $116 million.

Meanwhile, Israel’s smaller airlines, Arkia and Israir, have expanded their routes, including to the New York area. Last December, an Israeli startup airline cooperative, TechAir, announced that it planned to offer flights between Tel Aviv and New York.

Israelis are getting involved in the aviation industry outside the country, too. The Israeli company Holiday Lines Group (Kavei Hufsha) bought Blue Bird Airways, a Greek airline, in 2016, and in January acquired all the outstanding shares of Tus Air, a Cyprus-based airline. Both airlines run regular flights out of Tel Aviv, with Blue Bird ranking as Ben-Gurion’s sixth-most frequent carrier. Holiday Lines also reportedly is setting up a new Israeli carrier—a process with a licensing period of at least 18 months.

For its part, Air Haifa was founded by several veterans of El Al with a vision of serving residents of northern Israel. Haifa’s airport offers advantages for travelers from anywhere: It’s small, it’s quiet and parking is free.

Air Haifa has three aircrafts in its fleet and will add a fourth this summer. Over time, airline officials say, it plans to increase the frequency of its flights and launch new destinations.