British airline Virgin Atlantic suspends direct flights between Ben Gurion airport and Heathrow airport in London, the airline said on Monday.
“Although we will no longer be independent on this road, we remain determined to serve our customers traveling between Israel and the United Kingdom thanks to our codes partnership with EL AL,” said a company spokesperson.
“We apologize for the disadvantage. We will continue to work to provide the highest level of service during this transition period,” they added.
The customers concerned who have reserved their flights directly via Virgin Atlantic will receive notifications by e-mail from May 10, and the cancellation will be reflected in the “My reservations” section on the Virgin Atlantic website from the same date.
Virgin Atlantic will not take over the flights between London Heathrow and Tel Aviv as planned in October. The route is now permanently suspended. Virgin will continue to offer a codes to Tel Aviv with El Al.
– London Air Travel (@LondonAirtravel) April 28, 2025
Virgin Atlantic notably manages a codes partnership with EL AL, which he will maintain.
The airline currently offers availability on two daily flights in each direction along the road Tel Aviv-London via a codes with El Al. However, these flights are operated by the Israeli airline.
According to local media, Virgin Atlantic flights operated independently were to return to Israel in October 2025.
Virgin Atlantic’s links with El Al
Virgin Atlantic is the only British airline to have a codes with EL AL, offering advantages for frequent members of Virgin Atlantic’s Flying leaflets and El Al Matmid programs, including the possibility of winning and exchanging mutually, recognition of reciprocal status and unique advantages for higher level members.
Virgin Atlantic’s first flight landed in Israel in September 2019, with a British billionaire businessman and president of Virgin Atlantic, Sir Richard Branson, praising Israel as a country of “big entrepreneurs who do incredible things”.
The flight frequencies were first affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, then by the War of Israel-Hamas.
