Israel’s El Al Airline to Relaunch Nonstop Tel Aviv-Miami Route in November

El Al Airlines, Israel’s flagship carrier, announced Wednesday it will resume nonstop flights between Tel Aviv and Miami beginning in November.

After courting Miami International Airport (MIA) for more than a year, El Al will offer three weekly nonstop flights.

The Israeli carrier previously operated the Miami-Tel Aviv route before the service was canceled in September 2008.

The route’s resumption represents a major success for the Florida airport, which had been in negotiations with El Al since February 2016, when representatives from El Al visited it.

“In our efforts to make MIA a truly global gateway, Israel has always been one of our top strategic targets because of its unique and historically significant global location, and because of its deep cultural ties with Miami,” MIA Aviation Director Emilio Gonzalez said in a statement.

Gonzalez and a group of MIA executives traveled to Tel Aviv in February 2017 to continue negotiations with El Al at Ben-Gurion International Airport, the airline’s hub.

“The importance of El Al is [significant] as Miami evolves into diversifying its economy,” William D. Talbert, III, president of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, told the Miami Herald last month.

Miami will be El Al’s sixth North American route. The others are New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Boston and Toronto.

(JNS)

{Matzav}