United Returns to Israel: Resuming San Francisco to Tel Aviv Route in March 2027

After multiple delays, the American airline United Airlines announced that it plans to resume direct flights between San Francisco and Tel Aviv on March 28, 2027, with a frequency of three weekly flights. The company announced the move as part of the largest international network expansion in its history, which includes 10 new international destinations and three new routes.

The return of the San Francisco route is particularly significant for Israel, as it is a direct connection to the US West Coast and the Silicon Valley technology hub. United notes that the route will offer more business class seats between San Francisco and Tel Aviv than any other airline.

As a reminder, in January 2026, El Al announced its intention to operate a route to San Francisco, with the first flight scheduled for October 25, 2026, at a frequency of three times a week. Thus, United is allowing El Al to control the route for a few months before it joins the competition.

The company is effectively returning its network of routes to Israel for the first time, after the war led to the freezing of operations from Ben Gurion Airport. In February 2024, United announced that flights from San Francisco, Washington, and Chicago to Tel Aviv would be re-evaluated for the fall, after operations were suspended on October 7, 2023. Since then, it has not returned to full and regular operations in Israel, and as mentioned, at this stage only the route to San Francisco is being renewed.

For the Israeli passenger, this means not only additional capacity but also direct access to the West Coast, with connection options from the United network in San Francisco to other destinations in Asia and the US. The company currently operates more than 160 international destinations, and the current expansion includes, among others, new routes from San Francisco to Okinawa, from Newark to Luxembourg, Marseille, Ibiza, Valencia, and Ljubljana, and from Washington to Toulouse.