A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Business Aviation Services Editor

Curt Epstein

The regulations for private jet travel from the U.S. to Israel have become more stringent following the issuance of new regulations from Israel’s Aviation Security Operations Center (ASOC), which is responsible for aircraft traveling into the country’s airspace.&nbsp;According to the <a href="https://ops.group/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/General-aviation-flights-from-US-airports.pdf">regulations</a>, there are no longer any U.S. airports approved for direct flights to Israel and there are now only three authorized options for operators looking to fly to the country.
Options are as follows: hire one of two ASOC-approved security companies in the U.S. to meet the aircraft at the departure airport and conduct pre-departure screening; land at a pre-approved European airport en route for a security check before continuing to Israel; or,&nbsp;for Part 91 flights only,&nbsp;enroll in the preferred carrier/aircraft program, which entails paying for ASOC to come visit them, conduct interviews, and provide crew training. OpsGroup noted that the latter solution can take months and is basically applicable only to those who have frequent flights to Israel.
This is on top of the still-existing permitting requirements, including the need for a local Israeli sponsor who is personally acquainted with all arriving passengers.
Israel is also rolling out an electronic travel authorization (ETA) system in which visitors from visa-exempt countries can apply for travel authorization. Those who are eligible will be able to travel to Israel and stay for up to 90 days. This week the ETA-IL system opened for application submissions as a pilot program only for holders of American and German passports. During the pilot phase, applying will be voluntary and exempt from fees.
It will expand to visitors from all visa-exempt countries&nbsp;on July 1 and become mandatory starting on August 1.

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New Regulations Have Made Private Travel To Israel More Difficult

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Private Jet Travel to Israel Has Gotten More Complicated

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