More Winter Flights to Israel

The number of flights to and from Israel is expected to increase by 106 weekly flights during the 2014-2015 winter season, according to an estimate issued by the Israel Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA).

Of the 56 airlines operating scheduled flights to and from Israel, 24 are planning to expand their flights by 16% this winter, compared with last winter. The upswing is largely due to implementation of the open skies agreement, signed a year ago with the European Union, ICAA reported.

Ironically, it seems that Israeli airlines stand to benefit from the open skies agreement, which they had fought to prevent.

According to ICAA, the rate of increase in the aggregate number of flights by Israeli companies is 15% higher than the aggregate increase in the number of flights by foreign companies, which means that the downtrend in the relative market share of the Israeli carriers is not expected to continue.

“The market share of the Israeli airlines is projected to reach 33% this winter, compared with 32% last winter,” the report states.

This article appeared in print on page 7 of the November 26th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.