A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has boosted the number of airlines returning to the region after months of inactivity due to heavy fighting, local media reported.

AZAL Azerbaijan Airlines was the first to return following the deal when it started flights to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion from Baku Heydar Aliev International on November 30. Other airlines that have resumed flights to Israel include TAROM, Hainan Airlines, Etihad Airways, TUS Airways, BlueBird Airways, Corendon Airlines, Uzbekistan Airways, Electra Airways, GullivAir, FlyOne, Ethiopian Airlines, Bees Airlines, and SkyUp Airlines.

Besides a return to normalcy for the Tel Aviv airport, Haifa will start operations, enabling newly-founded airHaifa to finally take off from its intended hub on December 22. The two-month-old carrier was forced to begin operations from Tel Aviv instead of Haifa, with flights to Eilat J. Hozman and Larnaca. A return to operations has also been announced for Rosh Pina Ben Ya'akov, an airfield in northeastern Israel, according to the Hebrew-language news site Kore.

Wizz Air has announced it will return to Israel as of December 20 (sooner than the initially planned January 15) with 4x weekly flights to Larnaca. Other airlines that will resume flights to Israel are Aegean Airlines, Air Seychelles, Air Europa, and Bulgaria Air.

However, some remain sceptical, with incoming easyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis telling the press he will not hurry and will reinstate flights to Israel soon as he sees a more “sustained” stability in the Middle East, according to Reuters. Additionally, no US carriers have opted to resume flights, meaning flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines remains the only airline operating flights between Israel and the US.

Turkish Airlines started flights to Lebanon on December 3, while, Qatar Airways will start on December 9 and Etihad Airways on December 18, L’Orient Today reported, adding that MEA - Middle East Airlines flights are fully booked throughout the month as a result of the ceasefire. According to ADS-B data, Iraqi Airways, Royal Jordanian, and SundAir operated flights out of Lebanon on December 3.

The ceasefire agreement came into force on November 27 after 13 months of fighting between Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel. It forces Israel’s army to move out of Lebanon and the Lebanese army to take over positions close to the Israeli border while dismantling all existing positions and confiscating unauthorised weapons. These actions must be taken within 60 days.