An El Al airplane. Photo: WikiCommons.

JNS.org – Israel’s national airline, El Al, has announced that it will begin direct flights between Boston and Tel Aviv starting next summer.

“Non-stop service to Tel Aviv will open up new commercial and economic opportunities for Massachusetts and the region,” Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said in a statement.

In 2011, Patrick led a massive trade mission to Israel and promised to work to restore the Boston route. According to Patrick, there are more than 7,000 people working in Massachusetts for Israeli-founded companies.

The initiative was also spearheaded by New England Patriots owner and prominent Jewish philanthropist Robert Kraft.

“The Holy Land is such a special place that now knowing that people who live in the New England area, whether they be Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, that they have a way to go direct to Israel and experience that country,” Kraft said, NECN reported.

El Al CEO David Maimon said the airline plans to start service with three weekly round-trips beginning June 28. Service will be on Boeing 767-300s with 654 seats per week available.

Meanwhile, El Al has also recently announced that it is working on a codeshare agreement with the popular U.S. airline JetBlue, which is the biggest carrier at Boston’s Logan airport and New York’s JFK airport. The codeshare will enable El Al passengers to connect to and from JetBlue flights on a single ticket.