El Al Tightens Its Grip on Ben Gurion as Rivals Race to Catch Up

El Al posted roughly $132 million in second-quarter profit — double a year earlier — as its share of Ben Gurion traffic climbed to 50.2% overall and 92.3% on US routes, with foreign carriers still slow to restore pre-war capacity after the Iran conflict. For advisors, that translates into loads running above 90%, RASK up roughly 12%, and thinner fare-class availability on Tel Aviv itineraries heading into peak fall travel. El Al says it plans 6-10% more capacity in the third quarter, but is simultaneously guiding to further fare increases. Clients booking September-October Israel travel should lock fares now rather than wait for competitive pressure to soften prices — with rivals still cautious about returning at scale, that relief isn't close.

Even as El Al dominates Ben Gurion, several carriers are adding capacity ahead of the Tishrei holiday season — the first sign of inventory loosening on specific routes even as overall fares stay elevated. Advisors booking September-October Israel travel should recheck availability on these routes rather than assume a blanket shortage.

• Lufthansa Group scales to 67 weekly Tel Aviv flights in September, up from 54 in August
• Brussels Airlines resumes daily Tel Aviv service
• El Al adds Tokyo frequencies and pushes North America service to 55 weekly flights
• Arkia deploys a leased 787-9 Dreamliner on New York, Paris and Amsterdam routes
• Israir expands subsidized Eilat service to five daily flights

Israel's hotel pipeline is expanding on several fronts. Fattal is building a $270 million superyacht-styled resort at Herzliya Marina; Isrotel is investing roughly NIS 3 billion across new Eilat and Negev properties; and Brown Hotels is breaking ground on Israel's first airport hotel, a 260-room property at Ben Gurion, alongside a Terminal 3 expansion. None of this opens this year, but advisors packaging 2027 groups, stopovers or MICE business should start tracking allotments now — particularly the airport hotel, which will be the first on-site option for clients with late arrivals or early departures at BGN, a gap the market has had no answer for until now.

A civilian drone entered Ben Gurion's airspace during peak hours, forcing a halt to takeoffs and landings — a disruption that follows a government proposal to impose a nationwide ban on civilian drones over fears of an Iranian attack. No injuries or lasting damage were reported, but the incident is a reminder that BGN remains subject to sudden, short-notice ground stops tied to airspace security, separate from the usual weather or volume delays. Advisors should build extra buffer time into connections through Tel Aviv this season and set expectations with clients that delays of this kind, while typically brief, can still ripple into same-day onward travel or tight layovers.

Two IDF reservists were killed and four wounded when a booby-trapped house exploded during a search operation in southern Lebanon — the first Israeli fatalities there in more than a month — triggering retaliatory strikes and raising doubts about whether the incident derails the US-brokered Israel-Lebanon talks underway in Rome. The open question, per Haaretz's reporting, is whether Hezbollah infiltrated IDF lines to plant the device, which would harden Israel's negotiating posture. None of this affects Tel Aviv or Jerusalem tourism operations directly, but it keeps the northern border and the broader ceasefire framework unsettled — a risk factor worth acknowledging to clients asking about overall trip safety, even though it doesn't change logistics for standard itineraries.

A new Yanolja Research/Purdue University global tourism index ranks Jerusalem 48th of 200 cities worldwide — and 10th specifically for culture and history — while Tel Aviv comes in at 120th. It's an independent data point advisors can use in Jerusalem-forward pitches, particularly for culture- and heritage-focused clients weighing how the destination is perceived internationally after two years of conflict-driven headlines. Worth citing alongside your own client testimonials when repositioning itineraries toward the Old City, Yad Vashem and Jerusalem's museum circuit, especially for travelers who default to Tel Aviv as the obvious anchor city.

A Washington Post report cited by Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post says depleted US missile stockpiles were a factor in Trump holding back what he called the 'biggest attack since World War II' on Iran over the weekend, following a reported clash with Defense Secretary Hegseth at Camp David. For advisors, this is the clearest signal yet that resource constraints — not just diplomacy — are currently capping the escalation that would most threaten Israel travel demand. It doesn't remove the risk, but it suggests a wider US-Iran strike isn't imminent, which should temper, without eliminating, client anxiety about booking Israel trips this fall.

Israel's Tourism Ministry has named Taimur Mansour as Consul and Director of Tourism for Canada, tasked with building tour-operator and airline partnerships and running roadshows and marketing campaigns to drive Canadian demand. It's a modest update alongside today's bigger airline and hotel stories, but a concrete one: Canadian-market advisors working with IMOT on co-op marketing, familiarization trips or trade events now have a named point of contact to route those conversations through, as the Ministry works to rebuild inbound volume from North America.