Azerbaijan’s Flag Carrier to Resume Israeli Flights

Jerusalem, 11 March, 2024 (TPS) -- Azerbaijan Airlines, the national carrier of the central Asian country, is resuming round-trip flights between Tel Aviv and Baku.

Flights resume on March 19, initially three times a week. In April, the number of weekly flights will be increased to nine.

“Looking forward to having more #Israeli tourists in Azerbaijan with just a 3-hour long flight,” Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Israel, Mukhtar Mammadov posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The airline, like many other carriers, suspended flights to Tel Aviv when Israel went to war against Hamas following the terror group’s October 7 massacre.

Azerbaijan is the only Shiite-majority country to have full diplomatic relations with Israel. Israel was one of the first countries to recognize Azerbaijani independence in 1991 and already has an embassy in Baku. An estimated 20,000 Jews live in Azerbaijan today.

Other airlines resuming flights to Ben Gurion Airport in either March or April include, among others, United Airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa, the Italian airline Neos, Air India, KLM, Bulgaria Air, British Air, and Korean Air.