[4] It is Israel's second-largest airline,[5] operating scheduled domestic and international services, as well as charter flights to destinations in Western Europe and across the Mediterranean.

[7] Flights commenced in 1950 with De Havilland DH.89 aircraft, followed by Douglas DC-3s, to inter-connect major towns in Israel from Rosh Pina in the North to the port of Eilat in the South.

[7] As Eilat continued to grow during the 1960s, so did the airline, introducing the Handley Page Dart Herald 200 turboprop aircraft to its fleet between 1967 and 1968, enabling Arkia to expand with new routes to Jerusalem, and Sharm-el-Sheikh.

[citation needed] The licence for Paris was granted in February 2008, and the airline announced that both economy and business class would be offered on this route.

[13] In January 2025, Arkia announced it would begin direct flights between NYC and Tel Aviv starting on 8 February, 2025 using Airbus A330-900neo aircraft operated by Iberojet.