The news that so many Israelis were waiting for: with the beginning of the Iron Swords War, almost all foreign airlines left Israel and a few remained and operated flights to and from Israel.
In recent weeks we have witnessed a very significant return wave.
In the last two weeks, the return of the foreign airlines has manifested itself in the most significant way.
The Lufthansa Group - which includes Swiss, Austrian and Lufthansa - was the first to announce the return of flights to Israel, and officially returned in early January.
Along with it, the Romanian company Tarum also returned, and a little after them also the Greek Aegian.
The return of these companies caused very significant airlines to announce their return to Israel, including Air France, Air Seychelles, Lottery, Tus Airways, Blue Bird, Smartwings, Transavia and other airlines.
The companies that announced the return to Israel will increase the competition and will fly to Paris, Prague, Athens, Larnaca, Bucharest and other destinations, among others.
Lowcost flights, photo: Coco
One of the most significant news came over the weekend when two of the low-cost giants, who were also among the most active companies in Israel, announced their official return to Israel. Wizz Air will operate direct flights from Israel to six destinations throughout Europe, starting on March 1. The low-cost company Hungarian Coast will fly from Israel to Budapest, Bucharest, London, Sofia, Krakow and Rome.
Ryanair, which left many Israelis in a state of uncertainty until last Wednesday, canceled a very large number of flights, but kept flights to and from Israel to five destinations, starting on February 1.
Ryanair will operate direct flights to Marseille, Baden-Baden, Memmingen, Vienna and Milan, and back.
The return of Wizz Air and Ryanair is expected to affect the prices of flights from Israel.
Airline ticket pricing is mainly influenced by supply and demand, and so far the supply has been very limited in relation to demand, which is expected to change soon.
It is important to emphasize that all the foreign airlines returning to Israel will do so with a much lower frequency than it was in the period before the war.
However, it is estimated that the addition of destinations and frequencies will expand in the months after their return, and with the examination of the demand situation in Israel, which is expected to help lower flight prices.
Low cost flight passengers photo:, photo: none
In addition to the airlines that returned and those that will announce that they will return, there are foreign airlines that operated during most of the war period and some throughout it.
Among these companies are Fly Dubai, which operates four flights a day on the Tel Aviv-Dubai line;
Etihad;
Ethiopian Airlines, which added flights and will operate 10 flights a week on the Addis Ababa-Tel Aviv route;
Chinese Hainan;
Red Wings;
azimuth;
Uzbekistan and High Sky.
Along with all these companies, the Israeli airlines also operate throughout the war.
In December, El Al operated 80% of all flights in Israel, and the numbers in November were similar. Israir operated about 10% of all flights in Israel, and Arkia about 2%.
These numbers are expected to change in the coming weeks, after the massive return of the foreign airlines.
The number of passengers in Israel is also increasing, with a very significant increase in the number of passengers during December compared to November, and it is expected that the numbers for January will be higher than in December. During January, several records were broken since the beginning of the war, with on some days the number of passengers passing through Israel 25 thousand passengers, while during the depression during the war the numbers ranged around 10,000 passengers a day.
The Airports Authority has begun the slow return of workers who were sent to Israel during the war period. The process of returning the workers indicates the increasing demand for flights and traffic in Israel.
"To return to earning a living with dignity"
The most sought-after destinations among Israeli travelers in recent weeks are the USA in first place and by a large margin, followed by Greece, France, England and Germany. Quite a few Israelis also fly to Georgia, the Emirates and Italy.
Tali Lauper, photo: PR
Tali Laufer, CEO of the Association of Travel Agencies: "Of course we welcome the news about the return of the foreign companies.
To our great regret, quite a few of the industry's workers are still in Halat and are not expected to return due to the arbitrary cessation of aid by the state. It is clear to us today, as it has always been clear to us, that only with ten fingers and hard work will we be able to make a living and grow again."
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