Starting 3 January, Manila and Tel Aviv will finally be connected by an 11-hour nonstop flight.
FILIPINOS work in Israel, pray there and visit family there. Arkia figures there are enough of them to fill a plane from Manila every week.
Photo courtesy of Reuters
For the first time, Manila and Tel Aviv are about to become one flight apart.
Israeli carrier Arkia will begin nonstop service between the two cities on January 2027, cutting out the airport change that has long been part of traveling between the Philippines and Israel.
The trip will take about 11 hours.
Israel will no longer be somewhere Filipinos have to fly somewhere else to reach.
That means no Dubai or Abu Dhabi or Bangkok, Seoul, New Delhi. You get on the plane in Manila and get off in Tel Aviv.
Israeli Ambassador Dana Kursh announced the route this week, saying Arkia will initially fly it once a week.
Israel is home to a sizable Filipino community, many of them caregivers, while the country is also a major destination for Filipino Christian pilgrims enough to fill a plane from Manila every week.
Kursh also sees business in the empty space between the two capitals.
She said the connection could increase tourism, investment, trade and cultural exchanges between the countries.
The Philippine government had previously pushed for direct flights to Israel as part of efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries.
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