American Airlines announced over the weekend that it will not resume flights to Israel until September 2025, extending an existing hiatus by another six months and potentially triggering a cascade of delays for other airlines in resuming regular service to Israel.

American Airlines makes the move the first US carrier to reject flights to Israel at least until the second half of 2025amid a spate of cancellations affecting most non-Israeli airlines.

Delta and its partner airlines currently have pauses on flights from Israel until March, while United Airlines has yet to set a return date for its own flights from Israel.

Many carriers suspended flights to Israel following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and delayed their return to the region, citing renewed security concerns, including expanding regional conflict in Lebanon and Iran. Others resumed flights after October 7, but suspended them amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, which included several missile barrages from Iran.

Lack of flights and their frequent interruptions they made traveling to and from Israel an expensive, often insane process. To manage costs, many travelers choose to fly first to a European city that has budget services before connecting to their final destination – although several European budget airlines, including EasyJet and Ryanair, have suspended, also service to Israel at least until spring 2025.

Israeli carrier El Al is currently the only airline that offers direct flights between the United States and Israel. El Al’s effective monopoly on service since October 7 led to an investigation into price gouging and a policy change that froze airfares to and from some European cities.

In a statement, an American Airlines spokesman said the Jewish News Syndicate that customers who had already purchased flights could receive a full refund or switch to another airline.