After quite a few delays, the Emirates' largest airline, Emirates, recently landed in Israel.
During the festive flight to Israel, we caught up with Adel al-Radha, the company's chief operating officer, for a conversation in which he addressed various issues surrounding the company's arrival in Israel.
Kosher arabia kosher plane meal set // Photo: Zivia Blum
"Our prices are affected by the rises in fuel prices," he apologizes when we ask him about the relatively expensive flight ticket prices of the company, which just two weeks ago launched the first route from Israel to Dubai.
"Fuel prices have risen by 90-80 percent," he adds, "and the rise in ticket prices is due to that. I hope it will not be for long - all airlines are experiencing this problem, but we have a hand on the pulse regarding prices all the time."
Launch of Emirates' first flight from Dubai to Israel, Photo: Sivan Farage
We went to the Israeli website (which is still offered in the lite version) to check the prices of the tickets offered - and they are expensive, especially in the pocket of the Israeli consumer who is used to finding cheap deals.
We checked flight tickets to Dubai at the end of July, and found that the cheapest prices range from $ 470-505 for a round trip flight.
Apart from Dubai, the site offers additional flights to many other destinations like Miami, Manila, Mauritius, as well as Beirut and Pakistan.
We checked a flight with Emirates to Brisbane, Australia (also allowed to dream, sometimes) in mid-July and back in late August, and the cheapest price for a round trip flight was $ 6,005 in business class and $ 7,496 in first class (there were no economy class seats), on a connecting flight from Dubai Of course, when its full length is 19 hours and 25 minutes.
The return flight cost $ 1,152 - in economy class.
This, by the way, is also the only flight offered (for those looking for one that includes only one connecting flight) also in flight search engines like "Skyscanner".
The economy class at Boeing 777 on the Emirates flight, Photo: Zivia Blum
We waited, we waited
The original plan was for the first Emirates flight from Dubai to arrive in the world's largest Airbus 380A, which has two floors, a beautiful design and even a spa shower, but eventually the flight arrived on a Boeing 777 with a standard, but spectacularly designed business class.
Al-Radha vaguely refers to the decision to land the Boeing 777 in Israel, which many airlines operate on routes to Israel, instead of celebrating the premiere flight of the world's largest plane that has not yet landed in Israel, noting: "We are currently reviewing all Tel Aviv airport requirements. And to land the plane. "
He hastens to add: "Since we announced the flights to Israel, we have received only good responses around the world. There is a high demand and it is encouraging, and I will not be surprised if we launch another line or the 380 plane arrives in Tel Aviv earlier than expected."
Flawless kitchen, KOSHER ARABIA, Photo: Zivia Blum
This kosher is delicious
Emirates also offers the option of kosher and even quality and updated meals, provided by Kosher Arabia.
Following kosher requirements, the company produces only meat or fur food, but also serves as a local and global catering supplier and even includes frozen pizzas with beef in the menu (when they import vegan cheese from Israel).
"We have two overseers and a kosher manager who is responsible for making sure everything is kosher," says Matthew Ricard of Britain, general manager of Kosher Arabia.
"We bring meat from Europe that is both kosher and halal, and the rest of the products from all over the world. Here we produce the yogurt and grow the vegetables and spices, and of course make sure they are kosher."
The kosher meals for the plane, KOSHER ARABIA, Photo: Zivia Blum
When you enter the company's operations center, you seem to enter a pharmacy - cleanliness is one of the first things on the menu.
Although the factory is large, the supervisors do not allow the company to produce a separate dairy kitchen in the same building, which produces breakfasts that include coconut milk-based yogurt (delicious, really tasty).
Some meals include shakshuka and some contain mutton.
Ricard insists that kosher meals do not increase ticket prices, although he later confirms that shashlik can be prepared on a cheap budget, but lamb or beef that come from Europe - their price is more expensive than non-kosher meats.
"The most important thing for us is the freshness," Ricard adds, "the mentality is the best notes, so we load all the products here, in Dubai, when they are fresh, and this is reflected in the taste of the food."
You can easily find kosher food not only on Emirates flights, but also in Dubai itself, as local rabbi Levi Duchman (indeed, Chabadnik) says. "It is easier to find kosher food in the UAE than in Europe," he declares. When it comes to Judaism.
"We have poultry from Abu Dhabi that are undergoing kosher slaughter, restaurants that work with the government to fulfill all the kosher conditions, and in general - I do not know another community that within a year and a half has opened five restaurants."
As mentioned, the meat is kosher but must also be halal.
Duchman: "In a slaughterhouse that is halal, they say 'in symbol', which is in the name of the name, and there is no problem with that in terms of kosher. We also do not add wine to stews or sauces, so that whoever keeps it can enjoy the food."
The reporter was a guest of the company
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