Historic new flight path connects Cyprus and Israel to the world

UPS has officially launched a historic new flight path between Cologne and Tel Aviv, strengthening the connection between Israel, Cyprus and UPS’s global network across 220 countries and territories.

Connecting through Larnaca, Cyprus and with a direct return from Tel Aviv to Cologne, this new flight path allows businesses to take advantage of promising new cross-border opportunities, offering enhanced flexibility thanks to daily flights with newly extended cut-off times, reducing time in transit and potentially increasing production times. Due to the load capacity of the aircraft, the Boeing 757,businesses will have the capability to increase export volumes.

“As we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a tremendous opportunity for businesses of all sizes to grow into new and existing global markets. This new, historic flight is about giving businesses in the region the competitive advantages they need to seize these opportunities now and in the future,” said Ufku Akaltan, UPS President East District.

For Israeli businesses, this means gaining direct access to the European market and new opportunities there driven by an explosion in e-commerce as well as quicker transit times to the USA, their primary export market. It also meets growing demand, with Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Industry, stating that exports are expected to reach an all-time high total of 135billion U.S. dollars in 2021.

Thanks to its location in the Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus is a key trade hub for Europe, Asia and Africa. This new connection will give the country, and its growing pharmaceutical industry, improved access to Europe and the Asian-Pacific region allowing local businesses to expand and tap into the existing and new lucrative export markets.

The new flight originates in Cologne, UPS’s largest operation outside of the United States. The Cologne air hub with its fifteen football fields of sorting space can sort roughly 53 packages a second or 190,000 per hour.