Israel’s main gateway is open again, but the foreign-airline comeback is beginning in fits and starts, not in one big wave. Ben Gurion Airport resumed regular operations at midnight between April 8 and 9 after the ceasefire, and Israeli authorities formally notified foreign carriers and regulators that normal flight activity could restart. Even so, officials have made clear that international airlines will return only gradually, because each carrier still needs its own internal and regulatory green light.

The first visible movement is coming on shorter regional routes. Blue Bird says it plans to restart the Tel Aviv-Athens line on Sunday, April 12, with one daily flight at first and a second daily frequency expected later in the week. Wizz Air, one of the most important low-cost players for Israelis flying to Europe, says it is preparing a phased return beginning April 25 and has started reopening ticket sales accordingly. At the same time, Blue Bird’s own website was still carrying a broader cancellation notice tied to Israel flights as of Friday, which is a reminder that schedules are still highly fluid even when carriers begin signaling a return.

The Gulf carriers are being watched especially closely because they can restore badly needed connectivity faster than many European airlines. Etihad is widely viewed as one of the first foreign carriers likely to come back, and Israeli media reports say it is targeting April 15 with two daily Abu Dhabi-Tel Aviv flights. But Etihad’s own public booking pages were, as of Friday afternoon, showing Tel Aviv inventory mainly from early May onward and directing passengers to check live status and updated schedules, suggesting the rollout is still being finalized rather than fully locked in.

The bigger European names are moving much more slowly. British Airways has extended its suspension of Israel flights until July 1 and says that when Tel Aviv service does resume, it will operate only one daily flight through the summer schedule instead of the previous two. That caution is not happening in a vacuum: the European Union Aviation Safety Agency extended its active conflict-zone bulletin covering Israel and the wider region through April 24, reinforcing why many foreign carriers are still taking a wait-and-see approach even after the ceasefire.

Israeli carriers are racing to rebuild schedules, but foreign airlines are still largely absent, and that is already feeding another jump in fares. Travel industry figures say that August tickets from Tel Aviv to New York on Israeli airlines are selling for more than $2,000, while Athens is running around $600 and London and Paris are above $800 on many dates. The expectation in the market is for a gradual foreign-airline return starting later this month and into May, with U.S. carriers lagging even further behind.