Demand for Tickets Doubles After Decision to Allow in Unvaccinated

The demand for seats on flights leaving the country roughly doubled on Sunday following news of the lifting of the quarantine requirement on unvaccinated children entering Israel, to start March 1.

“We’ve gone from 5,000 calls per day to 10,000,” said Oren Cohen Butansky, VP of customer service at El Al.

The airline drafted cabin crew to help answer the phones as Israelis seized the opportunity to book vacations abroad before another variant appears to wreck all plans.

“It’s a chance to increase [work] hours, as well as helping the customer service center,” Dalia, a cabin crew member at the airline, told Channel 12 news.

Travel agencies have reported a sharp upturn in business.

However, the rise in demand has resulted in a rise in prices.

“Unequivocally, February looks much better than January. Every day the data goes up, and these are still winter figures, which means we have not yet reached the peak period,” Ziv Rosen, CEO of the Gulliver Group, told The Marker.

“The top places for bookings in the next month are New York, London, Georgia, Turkey and Spain. Dubai also had reservations, but they slowed down a bit due to security issues,” Rosen said, referring to a dispute between the Shin Bet and UAE authorities over arrangements at the airport.

The regulations changes announced by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday included the following:

Foreign tourism: Tourists of all ages will be permitted to enter Israel, vaccinated and unvaccinated alike, subject to undergoing two PCR tests (prior to departure and after landing in Israel).

Entry of Israeli nationals: The requirement to undergo an antigen test before boarding the plane is cancelled. Israeli nationals entering Israel will only be required to undergo a PCR test upon arriving in Israel.

Unvaccinated Israelis will no longer be required to quarantine subject to the negative results from the PCR test at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

The statement prudently concluded: “At the same time, we will continue to closely monitor the situation and in the event of a new variant, we will again act quickly.”