El Al launched holiday service to Fort Lauderdale in September 2023, working up to twice weekly service in April 2024.
That was great news for many of the growing Jewish communities in South Florida, which prefer flying from Fort Lauderdale rather than dealing with all of the hassle around flying out of Miami International Airport.
In a previous poll on DansDeals, some 87% of readers preferred flying out of Fort Lauderdale:
Alas, the experiment is coming to an end.
- Effective October 26, 2025, EL AL will operate five weekly flights to Miami and one weekly flight to Fort Lauderdale, with the Friday/Saturday flight shifting to Miami, leaving just the Monday flight to/from Fort Lauderdale.
- Beginning April 14, 2026, all six weekly flights to Florida will operate exclusively to Miami.
El Al says that,
“This strategic move aligns with EL AL’s long-term vision to strengthen its presence in the Americas and focus on core routes. The transition will enable increased seat availability to Florida, a unified and enhanced customer experience, seamless connectivity to a wide range of destinations across the United States and Latin America, and expanded cargo capacity between Israel and the United States.
Miami International Airport serves as a major hub, offering extensive connectivity through EL AL’s partnerships with Delta Air Lines, AEROMEXICO, LATAM, and Aerolíneas Argentinas. These collaborations provide convenient onward travel options and broaden access to key destinations throughout the continent.”
Of course, El Al partner JetBlue has hub operations in Fort Lauderdale, and that connectivity will be lost.
From rumblings that I’ve heard, the real pain point has been that Fort Lauderdale’s runway length can’t support a fully loaded 787-9 with cargo, which forced the airline to utilize the smaller 787-8 on the route.
That meant the airline was forgoing cargo space and passenger for the Fort Lauderdale flights, while the Miami flights were operated by a 787-9 with more cargo and passenger space.
It will also mean more available seats in the market, thanks to 6 weekly 787-9s.
But that’s little consolation to people who live in communities like Boca, Boynton, or West Palm Beach, who may opt for a stopover rather than fly direct out of Miami.
What do you think of this change?
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44 Comments On "El Al Will Consolidate South Florida Operations To Miami, Ditching Fort Lauderdale"
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Is motzei shabbos from Miami even doable for most south florida Jewish residents?
Yes – plenty of people live close and the majority of people who fly the route don’t observe Shabbat.
this had nothing to do with a 787-9 in FLL, don’t forget BA & other carriers operated with the 777’s which is much heavier with no issue – coming to FLL was because of a grant from Fort Lauderdale for a contracted time , while most prefer FLL despite not having any lounges , it just doesn’t make any sense to have 2 sets of crews in the sofla landscape
Um, no. The airline calculated it could not fly the 787-9 fully loaded into FLL.
I agree that split operations didn’t make sense. But if it could have used the 787-9, we may have seen FLL win the flight over MIA.
This is incorrect – Ft Lauderdale can handle an A380 landing there. Also a fully loaded 787-9 requires 7500-8000 ft runway – FLL runway is 9000 ft
Not so simple at all.
https://www.boeing.com/content/dam/boeing/boeingdotcom/commercial/airports/acaps/787_Rev_P.pdf
Shocked to hear this from Dan since FLL can easily handle it
Are you an expert in runway length needed for a fully loaded B789 in hot temperatures?
This is what their route experts are telling them and why the B789 operated to MIA but not FLL.
I pushed back, but that’s what was determined.
Flying into Ft. Lauderdale Oct 10 and really looking forward to it
Any idea how this will affect the FLL coffin free route for kohanim?
I guess us Kohanim will have to return to the FLL- EWR – TLV route again. Very disappointing.
Right, or BOS.
I never understood how it made sense to begin with..
Very unfortunate, as FLL is a way more convenient to navigate
It will definitely lead to increased seat availability, but probably not the way they envision it…
😀
I’ll be very surprised if they’re ditching for more than airport to not having enough cargo space
I’ve heard from reliable sources at American Airlines the real reason why they ditched the Tel Aviv flight was due to not having enough cargo
AA has never been able to figure out the TLV market. El Al has done very well with cargo.
AA has zero interest in operating to TLV. Unclear why – maybe that’s what the Qataris require to operate a flight to DOHA
I’m disappointed due to the convenience of Ft Lauderdale, both in and out of the airport. However, I was quite UNDERwhelmed by ElAl security at FLL. It didn’t seem as secure as other airports.
Who would take a stopover to avoid flying out of MIA?
Plenty of older people in communities north of FLL will never fly out of MIA, period. It’s a hassle to get there, and navigating the airport itself can be a real pain.
I don’t think many people would take a stopover over MIA. MIA is a pain but not close to the pain of a stopover. I was wondering why I got a bunch of reschedule notifications from El Al this morning. It will be a much closer call leaving from Palm Beach County motzai Shabbos to MIA. When Shabbos ends 6:10 – need to get there for flight leaving at 10:00. What time do you need to arrive for an El Al flight leaving at 10:00 PM? Doable but more stressful if there is traffic.
As a resident of Hollywood, this bums me out
Personally I don’t think it’s such a huge deal. I’ve flown out of MIA and FLL. Like most people are not flying often on this route. So they take a taxi to MIA instead of FLL. A little more costly and half hour more time, but not the biggest deal.
They should keep the Fort Lauderdale flight. It’s really convenient for those of us who live closer to there. Going to Miami, who knows the amount of traffic you have just getting there
Tri rail
exactly. it’s easy too.
OH – ElAL didn’t know it was convenient for you. You should email them – I’m sure they’ll keep it once they find out it was convenient for @Daniel
Gonna be honest you guys sound very spoiled and bratty with all your complaining. Take a deep breath and relax. The airports are 45 min away from each other. Imagine living in Lakewood and having to fly from JFK (min 1.45 hour trip) every time since Newark prices are thru the roof (Newark aint that close either) and navagating a JFK under construction is deff harder then MIA.
100% ! Or imagine you were a Miami resident up until a decade ago and had NO direct flights
When I last checked, the flights from TLV -> FLL were (slightly) more expensive than TLV -> MIA. I’d rather fly into FLL, because at least the rental cars are in the terminal. Miami’s car rental center requires a tram ride, and many of the lower cost rental companies that are in-terminal in FLL, require a bus ride after the tram ride.
Which rental companies are in the terminal? I was just there in March and we needed to take a shuttle. On my return, there were no shuttles for so long, we had to run to security.
See https://miami-airport.com/car-rentals.asp
I meant at FLL, notMIA.
https://www.broward.org/Airport/passengers/Transportation/pages/rentalcars.aspx
Your link says it’s in a building next to terminal 1. That is not walking distance from most terminals if you have luggage as we do when going to Israel. Hence, the shuttle. The tram is easier. Just the airport is further and busier although FLL is busy too during peak hours
Ucch, I been flying the Sat night flight from FLL for over a year now. It was hands down the best flight to Israel. The only flight out of the airport on Sat night at that time. Minutes to clear security and I could get there in 15 minutes from where I stay by Uber for under $20. MIA can be a $75 Uber to Hollywood/Aventura area. This move sux
Not happy about this leaving FLL. MIAMI AIRPORT is a mess to deal with, and father away from home.
There is tons of traffic coming into Miami. You have to leave way early to be sure to arrive on time to the airport.
Tri rail
I think it’s time to consolidate NYC service to JFK, or rebuild EWR Terminal B. It’s such a crappy place, I don’t get how legacy airlines like Emirates, Turkish and other international airlines can use it
So, what do you mean- close down EWR to rebuild? I’m sure that would make PHL happy lol. In all seriousness, what do you suggest to the audience who would now have to add on 90 minutes to their drive to JFK, with EWR hypothetically not existing. You’re talking about the full state of Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, Staten Island, Rockland County and the surrounding counties who now must drive an up to extra 90 minutes.
Mia is a horrible airport. Hard to get to, hard to be in, old and no one speaks English. What a shame
I loved flying from Ft. Lauderdale. Now it will be easier for me to stop in Europe. Not El Al any more. It taks me an hour and one half to get to Miami.