American Airlines will end flights between the U.S. and Israel

American Airlines plans to halt flights between the U.S. and Israel early next year after determining the route was losing money.

The service between Philadelphia and Tel Aviv was a legacy of US Airways Group, which combined with American in December 2013 and formed the world’s largest carrier. American faced competition from New York-based flights operated by United Airlines and El Al Israel Airlines.

“It is strictly a financial decision,” American spokesman Casey Norton said in a telephone interview. “The route has not been profitable.”

Service to Tel Aviv from Philadelphia will halt Jan. 4, with the last U.S.-bound return flight a day later.

“We did our best to make it work, but we couldn’t get it to turn a profit,” Norton said.

Bloomberg News

This story was originally published August 20, 2015 at 2:20 PM with the headline "American Airlines will end flights between the U.S. and Israel."