Air Haifa maiden Cyprus flight returns almost empty

The new low-cost Israeli airline Air Haifa took off yesterday morning (Monday) on its maiden flight on the Tel Aviv-Larnaca route. When the plane returned from Larnaca, the passengers were surprised to find that it was almost empty. In this period, the peak season in the Israeli aviation industry, an empty plane is an unusual phenomenon, especially now, when the security escalation has led to widespread flight cancellations, and demand is concentrated on the small number of airlines that still operate in Israel.

Less than a week ago, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) rescinded the recommendation against flying in Israeli airspace, which it had issued shortly after the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah at the end of September. The recommendation exacerbated the wave of cancellations that began even before its issuance, and prompted many airlines to suspend their operations in Israel.

Despite the cancellation of the recommendation, three airlines announced yesterday that they would extend the freeze on their flights to Israel: Air France, NEOS, and Aegean. They join Wizz Air and Lot, which announced the suspension of flights in the past two days.

Haifa Air did not take off from Haifa Airport as planned, but from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, but there was doubt as to whether it would operate at all at this time, and not just for security reasons. Industry experts wondered whether Haifa Airport could be revived, due to its limited infrastructure and inability to expand its runways. This also cast doubt on the low-cost model of the company, which, unlike other low-cost companies, operates small aircraft with few seats.

As passengers testified, some tickets for Haifa Air’s return flight from Larnaca were sold for just $60, ostensibly making them very attractive to Israelis stranded abroad due to cancellations by other airlines.

In contrast to Air Haifa, when Romanian carrier Bees Airlines began operating flights at Ben Gurion in September, it was able to completely fill its first flight from Bucharest.

Why does a Romanian airline succeed in filling a plane from Bucharest, while an Israeli airline fails to do the same from Larnaca? Aviation sources say that demand decreased before the Sukkot holiday, despite expectations of a peak in demand during this period. They also explained that the military escalation last month and the massive recruitment of reserve soldiers influenced Israeli considerations in making a decision about travel.

In other aviation developments in Israel, Arkia has launched a new direct route to Manchester, while Cyprus Airways has restored service to Israel, and Air Seychelles is about to do so.

There has also been a sharp rise in the number of passengers attending flights carrying weapons. Figures from the security division at Ben Gurion Airport show that various weapons were found in the hand luggage of dozens of passengers in September. This phenomenon has worsened in the past few days, against the backdrop of increasing security tension and the increasing number of civilians carrying pistols.

Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on October 15, 2024.

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