East Asian airlines are announcing upcoming direct flights to Israel. Last month Cathay Pacific airlines – ranked the best airline in the world – announced that it would start flying 4 direct flights between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv in March 2017.
The Indian national carrier, Air India, announced that they too would begin flying direct to Israel in 2017.
Singapore Airlines and Japan Airlines are checking into flying a direct route too.
The first east Asian airline to fly to Israel was the South Korean airline Korean Air, which has been flying direct between Seoul and Tel Aviv since 2008. It was followed by Chinese Hainan Airlines which began flying between Israel and Beijing in April, offering cheaper flights than El Al. Now 60% of all Israelis flying to China fly on Hainan.
This is only the first wave of east Asian airlines coming to Israel and more are expected.