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BA drops Tel Aviv to short haul (A320) with reduced tier points – and will fly via Larnaca

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British Airways has announced some substantial changes to its Tel Aviv service – changes which are likely to substantially benefit Virgin Atlantic, assuming that the latter resumes flights as planned in April.

Tel Aviv is being downgraded from a long haul route to a short haul route.

Not only will it be on an A320 aircraft from now on, but from 2025 it will only earn short-haul tier points in British Airways Executive Club.

British Airways A320 to Tel Aviv

Here’s what will change.

Instead of a Boeing 787, which was being used before the flight suspension, services will resume using an A320 short haul aircraft.

This isn’t unusual for British Airways, of course. Larnaca, Cairo and Sharm are similarly lengthy flights which use a short haul aircraft.

The difference here, of course, is that none of those routes are competing with Virgin Atlantic which offers a long haul aircraft with Premium Economy and beds in Business Class. El Al also uses a long haul aircraft on one of its two daily Heathrow flights.

Tier points will drop to short haul levels, but only from 2025

The downgrade will see British Airways Executive Club tier points reduced on the Tel Aviv route.

From 30th March 2025 – so you have 14 months notice – the London to Tel Aviv route will earn:

  • 80 tier points each way in Business Class (currently 140 tier points each way)
  • 40 tier points each way in flexible Economy (currently 70 tier points each way)
  • 10-20 tier points each way in no/semi flexible Economy (currently 20-35 tier points each way)
British Airways Tel Aviv flights Larnaca

Tel Aviv flights will now stop in Larnaca for a crew change

The Independent reports that Tel Aviv flights will resume on 1st April – with a catch.

There will be just four flights per week, using an A320.

Outbound flights will stop at Larnaca in Cyprus for a crew change. Passengers will remain on the aircraft for the 45 minutes that this will take.

A new crew will fly the short hop between Larnaca and Tel Aviv.

The reason for this is that, if the landing has to be aborted at the last minute, the crew has enough flying hours left to return to London. Without this flexibility, BA would be forced to make emergency arrangements to land at an alternative airport outside Israel.

Return flights will operate non-stop from Tel Aviv to Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic is also due to resume flights to Tel Aviv on 1st April. This will obviously use a long haul aircraft (Virgin Atlantic doesn’t have any options!). You may want to switch across if you are looking for Premium Economy or for a ‘proper’ long haul Business Class experience.

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Comments (174)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • LondonFoodie says:
    8 Feb8 February 12:35

    Strange decision for a route that used to have 3 full flights a day and is a massive feeder for transatlantic traffic. Will make Virgin+Delta much more attractive for the business travellers.

  • Lev441 says:
    8 Feb8 February 12:38

    Shame, hopefully this is just a temporary change whilst demand is down to israel

    • Rob says:
      8 Feb8 February 14:15

      No, because the tier point change doesn’t kick in unti March 2025. BA wouldn’t have done that unless this was a permanent move.

  • Michael says:
    8 Feb8 February 12:43

    I’m sorry, who in their right mind is going to choose BA for this route? Sit in an economy seat for a 5 hour (indirect!) flight and pay them £1300 for the privilege? EL AL and Virgin must be celebrating…

    • zapato1060 says:
      8 Feb8 February 13:36

      Very true. Add Wizz to that list who will get you there and back for under £100. More uncomfortable seats for 1/6 off the price.

      • Londonsteve says:
        9 Feb9 February 18:25

        I wouldn’t say that Wizz is more uncomfortable behind the overwing exit rows on a 320. Seat pitch is the same as BA, near identical wafer thin seats with rock hard padding. There’s nothing in it.

    • JDB says:
      8 Feb8 February 15:07

      Other European airlines eg LH, SN, OS all operate with short haul aircraft and it’s still 4h30 from Brussels. Is nobody going to fly with those airlines either?

      BA operates successfully vs TK and MS to Istanbul and Cairo. This all seems like a big fuss about a sensible commercial decision. BA will know it can better use the long haul aircraft on other routes and will be taken a view on the state of the market to TLV when flying resumes and it may well be much weaker than before.

      As I said in the forum, it is in the interests of all passengers that BA is commercially successful so that they can fund investment in new aircraft, new cabins/seating, lounges, more staff etc. Why would they operate a vanity flight just because someone else does. BA can compete effectively without needing to mirror its competitors.

      Also do you really need a bed for a 4h45 flight?

      • Niall says:
        8 Feb8 February 15:11

        Missing the point about competition. But hopefully BA will have to reduce their fares for this route. Otherwise I would agree ‘who in their right mind would choose BA for this route’.

      • Michael says:
        8 Feb8 February 16:47

        That’s missing the point entirely.

        The European airlines that operate short haul aircraft on this route face no competition as no other airline currently operates long haul aircraft or offers better fares (although Swiss is about to resume ZRH-TLV on the A330).

        On the LHR-TLV route, BA competes with LY and VS, both now offering a superior product at equal or better fares. Passengers are now faced with the very simple choice of paying either more or the same for an economy seat classified as “business class”, or paying the same or less for a flatbed.

        Why on earth would you choose an economy seat when you can get a flatbed for the same, or even a better price?

        • Sarah says:
          8 Feb8 February 18:29

          Totally agree. Unless BA reduce fares to match the product they are offering the worst deal.

      • SG says:
        8 Feb8 February 18:10

        Agreed, totally misses the point about competition. That’s why it’s difficult to see the commercial sense. It’s a happy day for Virgin and El Al.

    • Dubious says:
      9 Feb9 February 13:51

      Not just that…you’ll still be on the higher band of APD (>2000 NM) despite the stop in the LCA which would attract lower, shorter band rate (<2,000 NM).

      £185 APD for CE to TLV
      Compared to
      £26 APD fir CE to LCA.

      • Londonsteve says:
        9 Feb9 February 18:29

        That might be part of the motivation for the change? For taxation purposes it becomes a flight to LCA and they settle any dues for the LCA-TLV leg direct to the Cypriots? After all, flights departing Ercan that land in Turkey for 45 minutes are no longer direct flights from TRNC and become mainland Turkey-UK.

        • Dubious says:
          10 Feb10 February 02:35

          It doesn’t work like that. It’s based on the final destination shown on the ticket not the route the aircraft takes.
          .

  • Lux says:
    8 Feb8 February 12:52

    So it’s basically now the equivalent of e.g. Beirut? More than once that flight would night-stop in Larnaca, as it was a bit too spicy for crew to stay in Beirut.

    Fond memories of flying F on BA to Cairo once a month in the noughties, and the generally good BMED / BMI. My Concorde Room card is much missed, but the impact of travel on my personal life and waistline is not!

    • PeteM says:
      8 Feb8 February 13:10

      BA don’t fly to BEY anymore…

      • Lux says:
        8 Feb8 February 23:03

        I did mean historically but yep, you’re right. A shame. What a place. What. A. Place.

    • LD27 says:
      8 Feb8 February 14:31

      “It was a bit too spicy for the crew to stay in Beirut”. That made me laugh! Towards the end of 2019 we flew to Beirut with BA when the plane was overnighting in Larnaca. FCDO advice didn’t change to reflect issues at the time, so if we didn’t go we would have lost our money. It certainly wasn’t too spicy for us! We stayed in Beirut for a couple of nights and then travelled towards the Syrian border. The Bekaa valley, Byblos and Blabeek were all well worth visiting, especially as there were so few tourists.

      • PeteM says:
        8 Feb8 February 15:02

        Did a similar itinerary in 2018 – had a brilliant time!

      • Ant says:
        8 Feb8 February 15:49

        Did the same Dec 2023! Had an amazing time. Baalbek is one of the highlights of my travel life. Flew MEA direct from LHR on a small plane but at least had IFE and food / drink

  • Jonny says:
    8 Feb8 February 12:53

    do we know when BA are resuming flights? All availability seems to have disappeared online…

    • Rhys says:
      8 Feb8 February 13:04

      1st April according to the Independent. It’s in the article 😉

      • Jonny says:
        8 Feb8 February 13:08

        any advice on cancellation. I booked on Avios for April. The booking was made before 7 October. BA told me normal cancellation policy applies. However, with foreign office advice currently against all but essential travel I would have though I should be able to cancel without paying a cancellation fee?

        • Jonny says:
          8 Feb8 February 14:35

          Just to update – BA have just cancelled my mid April flight. I’m guessing they won’t be resuming on 1 April as reported…

          • Tracey says:
            8 Feb8 February 14:53

            Resuming with only 4 flights a week, so yours may not have been one of the 4.

  • Lady London says:
    8 Feb8 February 12:55

    Smart move by BA.
    Sad, but smart.

  • the_real_a says:
    8 Feb8 February 13:18

    Should this now be £17.50 Reward Flight Saver fee for redemptions?

    • Rob says:
      8 Feb8 February 14:12

      Yes – but perhaps not until the tier point adjustment in March 2025.

      • Howard says:
        8 Feb8 February 15:15

        I’d be surprised, given that APD is much higher than Europe. Also, Amman, Cairo etc uses the same avios pricing as the current TLV pricing and earn SH tier points.

    • Josh B says:
      8 Feb8 February 15:33

      More likely to remain as it is which is the same as for Cairo already I’d guess. But would be great if it goes down

  • lev441 says:
    8 Feb8 February 13:19

    Will the avios price change to reflect the downgrade in plane and on board services/facilities?

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