Israeli flag carrier El Al has announced a first-ever nonstop service between Tel Aviv Ben Gurion and Buenos Aires Ezeiza, with twice-weekly flights set to launch in November using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner equipment. The new route, unveiled during a joint Israel-Argentina press conference, will give the airline its first South American gateway in more than a decade and dramatically cuts journey times for the large Israeli and Jewish communities on either end of the operation.
Estimated block time on the westbound leg is around 16.5 hours, with the eastbound return tracking at roughly 15.5 hours thanks to favourable jet streams. That puts the route firmly in the ultra-long-haul category and makes it one of the longest commercial services flown out of Tel Aviv. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale across El Al's distribution channels later in May, with frequencies expected to grow if early demand justifies a third or fourth weekly rotation.
The service has been described in local press as part of a wider strategic agreement between the Israeli and Argentine governments, with the project formally announced at a joint press event by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Argentine President Javier Milei. El Al chairman Amikam Ben-Zvi confirmed the launch dates and equipment choice, framing the link as both a commercial and a diplomatic milestone for the carrier.
The Boeing 787-9 was chosen for its long range and lower trip costs compared with the airline's older 777-200ER fleet, allowing El Al to operate the marathon sector profitably even at a relatively modest two-times-weekly cadence. Configuration on the type includes a fully flat-bed Business Class, a dedicated Premium Economy and a long-haul Economy cabin, with the airline marketing the route to Jewish diaspora travellers, business passengers, and tourist traffic between the two countries.
For Buenos Aires Ezeiza, the new service adds another long-haul European-style operation to a hub that has seen steady growth in international widebody flying over the last 18 months. For El Al, it caps a busy expansion phase that has already seen the airline announce future Tel Aviv-Seoul flights for the 2027 summer schedule, marking a coordinated push beyond the carrier's traditional European and North American backbone.
Compiled from publicly available aviation news sources. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. This article is original editorial content; facts have been verified across multiple public sources.
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