SAS is launching Tel Aviv – Copenhagen flights from October 26. The Scandinavian airline, which is returning to Israel after a nine year absence, will operate three weekly flights using the Airbus A320neo. Round-trip tickets will start at $300.
In recent years there have been no direct flights between Israel and Denmark with passengers needing to find connection flights. SAS is launching the new route in winter, when demand is lower and tourism companies say that demand for Denmark among Israeli tourists has fallen in recent years.
RELATED ARTICLES
KLM to resume Israel flights next month
Delta Airlines resumes Israel flights
SAS representative in Israel and Scandinavian expert Yaki Cohen said, “SAS was a pioneering company in Israel and in the past they flew to destinations in the East. In 2001, the company stopped flying to Israel following the twin towers disaster, and returned between 2012 and 2016. The company planned to return again in the winter of 2023, but then the war broke out. At its peak, there was a daily flight to Copenhagen.”
Ofakim Tours CEO Revital Ben Natan added, “In recent years we have seen a large decline in the number of passengers to countries like Denmark, Sweden and Norway. A decline that began even before the war, when it was very challenging to reach Scandinavia, on a route that usually included a connection and sometimes two intermediate stops, but has continued in the last two years.”
A plunge in demand
according to Israel Airports Authority figures only 1,261 passengers flew from Israel to Denmark in July and Google Trends reports very few Israelis have searched for information about flights to Scandinavia over the past two years. Since the start of the war the trend has been for Israelis to vacation abroad closer to home in countries where there are less pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Eshet Tours VP marketing Shirley Cohen Orkaby said, “The fact that the company is returning to Israel at this time indicates a major vote of confidence by a foreign airline. Denmark is a destination not characterized by large numbers of Israelis, but there is demand, for example in the organized tours sector for all Scandinavian countries.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on September 2, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
