American announced four new destinations in Europe, Asia and Africa Thursday morning, also starting flights from Chicago to eastern European destinations of Budapest, Prague and Krakow, Poland.

American Airlines will fly nonstop from DFW to Israel starting next year. (Photo: Silas Stein – Getty Images).

The DFW-Tel Aviv flights will start Sept. 9, 2020, and fly there three times a week on a Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner. There will also be three return flights a week.

It will be the first time in four years American has flown to Israel. It dropped service from Philadelphia to Tel Aviv in 2015, saying the route was losing the company $20 million a year. 

DFW Airport doesn’t have any other service to Israel and previously those that wanted to fly to the country had to connect through an East Coast hub or Europe. With the DFW to Tel Aviv connection, American Airlines plans to use North Texas to connect Israel to the central and western parts of the United States, said Vasu Raja, vice president of planning at the Fort Worth-based airline.

“It’s a huge validation of the tremendous economic growth in North Texas and its immense potential,” Raja said. “When you look at the marketplace, Tel Aviv is really the largest underserved destination in the American Airlines network.”

With most Tel Aviv and Israel bound routes in the United States on the East Coast, Raja said there is potential to connect to tech hubs such as Austin and San Jose, California. That’s why this route might work when the Philadelphia route, with more competition, didn’t.

“When we were in Tel Aviv before, it was a uniquely challenging time for the airline,” Raja said, referring to the 2012 bankruptcy and 2013 merger with U.S. Airways. “Arguably, we came out of Tel Aviv too early.”

The flights will operate year-round, the airline said.

Matt Johnson, CEO of the U.S. arm of medical technology company EarlySense, said a direct connection to Israel will save him several hours on flights to the Mediterranean country, instead of having to stop in London or Rome. EarlySense’s parent company is headquartered in Tel Aviv.

“It’s been a real travel challenge,” said Johnson, who lives in the Dallas area and joined the company in April. “It makes travel anywhere from 18 to 23 hours. And making any connection is just an opportunity for something to go wrong.”

A nonstop flight between Dallas and Tel Aviv takes 12½ to 15 hours, depending on wind. American intends to leave Dallas at 10:15 p.m. and land in Tel Aviv at 6:30 p.m. the next day. Tel Aviv is eight hours ahead of Dallas. The return flight will leave at 11:50 p.m. and arrive in North Texas at 5:05 a.m.

Tel Aviv is a growing hub for medical technology companies and investors, Johnson said. But it should also be a popular flight for people with family and personal connections to Israel, he said.

“I am thrilled to see American Airlines open a direct flight to Israel from Texas,” said a statement from Gilad Katz, consul general of Israel to the Southwest United States. “This flight demonstrates the important bond Israel and Texas share, while continuing to strengthen business and tourism ties between us. This new route highlights the growing demand from Americans and Israelis who are interested in learning more about one another.”

DFW Airport has been growing its international connections, including American Airlines starting flights to Munich and Dublin this summer. The North Texas airport now services 64 international destinations.

“A number of international flights that we have added have really done well for us,” Raja said. “As more business is drawn to the (Dallas) metro area, we have people from all over the world traveling here.”

Kyle Arnold – Dallas News