JERUSALEM, June 1 (Reuters) – El Al Israel Airlines said on Monday it would resume nonstop flights between Tel Aviv and San Francisco from October 25, citing demand for a route between the two tech hubs.
It chose LY49 as the flight number for the three weekly, 15-hour flights in homage to the San Francisco 49ers football team.
“San Francisco is one of the most important technology, innovation and business hubs in the world, with a large and central Israeli community,” said Shlomi Zafrani, El Al’s vice president of commerce and sales.
“The opening of the new route is intended to respond to significant demand from the business and Israeli community in the region, and to enable a more direct … and convenient connection between Israel and Silicon Valley.”
El Al flew between the two cities from late 2018 until early 2020 when the route was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resuming flights to San Francisco is part of its expansion.
The Israeli flag carrier said in April it would buy up to 12 more long-haul 787 Dreamliner aircraft from Boeing.
The new route will expand the number of nonstop flights from Israel to U.S. cities, which now includes New York, Miami, Boston and Los Angeles.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Alexander Smith)
