Direct flights between Krasnodar and Tel Aviv will begin in December, once again providing Russians with new opportunities to travel to Israel. The flights will run twice a week with travel time of just over three hours. Tickets start at approximately RUB 18,000, making this route one of the most affordable ways to get to Israel directly.

Ksenia Vorontsova, Director of the Israel Tourism Representative Office in Russia, said that this new direct route is an important step in restoring tourist exchanges between the two countries. She said Israel is ready to actively support the promotion of key resorts, particularly Eilat, which exclusively focuses on tourists.

“We highly value our cooperation with airlines and regional partners. Thanks to their efforts, residents of southern Russia will now have direct and quick access to Israel and its iconic locations – including the holy sites of Jerusalem, the beaches of Eilat, and the vibrant Tel Aviv embankment. Israel is expecting Russians all year round,” Vorontsova said.

The resort was not affected by recent events and continues to function almost as usual, she said. The flights primarily target the Israeli market, since Israelis are quite fond of the Black Sea resort region with its mountains, the sea, and entertainment, including casinos.

Russia remains one of the key markets for Israel, Vorontsova said. Russia ranked third – and in some periods even second – in terms of the number of inbound tourists to Israel in 2019, only behind the United States and France.

The launch of new direct flights from regional destinations in Russia is an important step towards restoring the previous level of tourist exchanges. Additional statistical data provides context: according to the ITN website, there are plans to increase the number of weekly flights between Russia and Israel from 18 to 30 in the first half of 2025, with the geography of flights expanding to four Russian cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, and Mineralnye Vody.

Conversely, statistics show that the flow of Russian tourists to Israel is still far from pre-pandemic levels: only about 72,600 Russian tourists travelled to Israel in 2024, which is down significantly from the previous year. Meanwhile, the total number of foreign tourists in Israel decreased by 68.1% in 2024 compared with 2023.

This trend shows that the new routes and marketing efforts aim to restore and increase tourist flows, and not just maintain them.

For Russian tourists, this means easier and faster access to the beaches of the Red Sea, modern resorts of Israel, and the country’s holy sites practically all year round. The alternatives to traditional destinations are becoming particularly attractive: hotels in Eilat, diving and snorkelling, the sun and sea, all combined with Israeli history and culture.