From October 25, Arkia will fly direct Tel Aviv to Tokyo flights twice a week, becoming the second Israeli airline on a route El Al has flown alone. Economy fares start at $750 one way with a 23kg bag and two meals, and early round trips have already appeared near $1,498, well below El Al’s $2,778 on the same dates.
Arkia’s chief executive is openly copying the New York playbook, where a second Israeli carrier dragged fares down. El Al, which has set the price on the Tokyo run without a direct rival, now has one quoting numbers roughly $1,280 cheaper.
How the New Tokyo Service Will Run
Arkia will operate the route on a wide-body Airbus A330 (a twin-aisle jet sized for long-haul work), flying out of Tel Aviv on Sundays and Wednesdays and back from Tokyo on Mondays and Wednesdays. The cabin is split two ways, business and economy, with no premium economy in between.
The pricing sits at the heart of the pitch. One-way economy starts at $750 and includes a 23-kilogram checked bag plus two hot meals and drinks; one-way business opens at $2,200. The flight covers about 9,199 kilometers and runs close to 11 hours and 35 minutes nonstop, which is why a widebody is the only realistic aircraft for it.
Tokyo slots into a long-haul map Arkia has been building fast. The carrier already serves New York, Bangkok and Hanoi, and has announced Phuket in Thailand from July 2026 and Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) from October 2026. Tokyo is the marquee addition, pitched in the airline’s own words as the next pillar of a plan to push deeper into East Asia. The route details sit alongside Arkia’s other long-haul listings on the carrier’s international flight booking pages.
El Al Loses Its Grip on a Route It Owned Alone
Until now, anyone who wanted to fly nonstop between Israel and Japan booked El Al, the Israeli flag carrier, or accepted a connection through the Gulf on flyDubai or Etihad. El Al runs the Tokyo route three times a week with evening departures, and its product is broader, carrying economy, premium economy and business. Arkia becomes the second Israeli carrier on the city pair, lifting combined direct Israeli rotations to five a week.
The price gap is the part travelers will notice first. A check of both airlines’ sites for travel between November 2 and 16 found Arkia’s lowest round trip at $1,498 against El Al’s $2,778. On peak holiday dates the gap narrows: for December 23 to 31, both carriers opened near $1,498.
| Carrier | Weekly direct flights | Cabin classes | Lowest round trip (Nov 2-16) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkia | 2 | Business, Economy | $1,498 |
| El Al | 3 | Business, Premium Economy, Economy | $2,778 |
Arkia is not shy about the strategy. CEO Oz Berlowitz tied the move straight back to what happened when the airline entered the transatlantic market.
Similar to the move we made on the popular route to New York that resulted in a fall in fares, here too we are expanding the choices of the Israeli public and introducing additional competition to the flight market to Japan.
El Al has faced this squeeze before on its most lucrative corridor. Israel’s transport ministry has separately pushed to open Tel Aviv to New York to foreign widebody capacity, a fight detailed in the campaign against El Al’s dominance of the JFK route. Tokyo is the same story on a smaller scale: a protected lane, a flag carrier setting the price, and a rival arriving to test it.
Why Are Israelis Flocking to Japan?
Arkia did not pick Tokyo at random. Israeli demand for Japan has climbed sharply, and the travel trade has been flagging it for months. The Ofakim tourism company reported 25% growth in trips to Japan in May alone compared with 2024, while Ophir Tours pointed to inquiries and bookings up by tens of percent against the pre-Covid baseline.
That sits on top of a global rush. Japan logged a record stream of foreign visitors last year, helped by a yen hovering around ¥150 to the US dollar that makes the country cheap for almost everyone arriving with foreign cash.
- 42.7 million international visitors to Japan in 2025, a record, per Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) figures
- Up 15.8% on the previous high of 36.9 million in 2024, and the first year above 40 million
- Roughly 10 million more than the pre-pandemic 2019 total of 31.9 million
- A weak yen near ¥150 per dollar holding through the year as the main draw
The numbers behind that record sit on the agency’s own Japan inbound tourism statistics dashboard. For an Israeli market that lost a chunk of its outbound options during the war years, a second nonstop to a destination this hot is the kind of capacity that fills itself.
The Wet-Leased Widebodies Doing the Heavy Lifting
Arkia is a leisure and domestic carrier by history, not a long-haul one, and it does not own the jets making these flights possible. It leases them. The airline has been wet-leasing Airbus A330-200s, an arrangement where the lessor supplies the aircraft and crew, from operators including GullivAir since May 2025, with Hi Fly approved on a long-term basis; some of those jets are fitted with 18 business and 251 economy seats. Arkia now runs four widebodies on long-haul duty.
The model has a track record now. Arkia began flying to New York’s JFK in February 2025, when no carrier other than El Al offered Tel Aviv to United States service, and it restored its nonstop Tel Aviv to New York flights once regional airspace stabilized. What started as a three-month trial has run a full year.
The forward plan is bigger than Tokyo. Arkia has said it intends to operate 20 aircraft within five years, including widebodies, serve at least two North American destinations, and keep expanding in the Far East. Its current and planned long-haul map runs:
- New York, the transatlantic anchor since early 2025
- Bangkok and Hanoi, the existing East Asia pair
- Tokyo, from October 25
- Phuket, from July 2026
- Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), from October 2026
Where the Route Looks Thin
The fare gap is real, but the Arkia product is the lighter one. Two flights a week against El Al’s three limits the days a traveler can pick, and a two-class cabin means no premium economy for anyone who wants more room than economy without paying business money. On El Al’s nonstop Tel Aviv to Tokyo schedule, that middle cabin is available; on Arkia it is not.
The leased fleet is the other question mark. Wet-leasing lets Arkia scale fast without buying $200-million-plus jets, but it also means the airline controls less of its own operation, leaning on third-party aircraft and crew for reliability on an 11-hour sector. Arkia’s long-haul flying has also been buffeted by the region itself, with airspace closures and diversions hitting Israeli carriers repeatedly over the past two years. A twice-weekly Tokyo run depends on calm skies over the route as much as on demand.
None of that changes the headline for a price-sensitive traveler. From late October there will be two Israeli carriers selling the same nonstop, and the cheaper one is opening close to half off the incumbent’s top-line round trip.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do Arkia’s Tel Aviv to Tokyo flights start?
October 25 is the launch date. Arkia will fly twice a week, leaving Tel Aviv on Sundays and Wednesdays and returning from Tokyo on Mondays and Wednesdays.
How much does an Arkia flight from Tel Aviv to Tokyo cost?
One-way economy starts at $750, including a 23-kilogram checked bag and two meals, while one-way business opens at $2,200. Early round trips have shown up near $1,498 on off-peak dates.
Which airlines fly direct between Tel Aviv and Tokyo?
El Al has been the only nonstop operator, running three flights a week. Arkia becomes the second Israeli carrier on the route, taking combined direct Israeli service to five flights weekly. Travelers can also connect through the Gulf on flyDubai or Etihad.
What aircraft does Arkia use on the Tokyo route?
A wide-body Airbus A330, leased rather than owned. Arkia wet-leases A330-200s from operators including GullivAir and Hi Fly, some configured with 18 business and 251 economy seats.
Does Arkia offer premium economy to Tokyo?
No. Arkia sells only business and economy on the route. A traveler who wants premium economy on a nonstop between Tel Aviv and Tokyo has to book El Al, which carries that cabin.
