An informal grouping of Israeli tech entrepreneurs, DemocraTech, has announced it will launch flights 3x weekly between Tel Aviv Ben Gurion and New York Newark in cooperation with a European carrier, the Israeli financial daily Globes reported.
Marketing the initiative for now under the name TechAir, the group published a Google Docs sheet indicating that flight operations will start in January 2025. It describes the declaration as a “soft commitment” aimed at securing tickets for the future flights.
TechAir is intended to be a seasonal operation, with 36 weekly flights planned from January to March with a B777. All flights would depart Tel Aviv at midnight and arrive at Newark early in the morning. Earlier reports of the route launch indicated that DemocraTech was seeking an A330 or a B787 for the route.
The decision to launch flights to New York comes as Israeli tech firms face difficulties with business travel after the conflicts in the region prompted US-based carriers to suspend their flights, leaving flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines (LY, Tel Aviv Ben Gurion) as sole operator on the New York-Tel Aviv city pair. Both local and foreign carriers are now seeking a change in Israeli regulations to bypass cancelled flight compensation rules to reduce the financial risks and improve competition.
While DemocraTech, whose TechAir does not have an AOC, has not revealed which airline would be operating the route, ch-aviation asked multiple B777 operators from Europe if they would be cooperating with the initiative.
Raul Largo, chief commercial officer of euroAtlantic Airways (YU, Lisbon), confirmed that his airline had received a request from multiple brokers to operate Tel Aviv-New York JFK, rather than Newark, but added that euroAtlantic was not in direct contact with the end customer and that he did not know if it was DemocraTech.
