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Israelis will pay more to avoid flight over hostile country
Consumer Council poll shows over half of Israelis unaware that foreign airlines fly over hostile countries in flights to, from Israel; 57% say are willing to pay more for a ticket to avoid this
Over 57% of Israelis are willing to pay more for a plane ticket in order to avoid flying over a hostile country, a poll conducted by the Israel Consumer Council revealed.
The poll was conducted following the release of the Counter-Terrorism Bureau's travel alert at the start of the month.
While Israeli airlines El Al, Arkia and Israir do not fly over the territories of countries labeled hostile, foreign airlines do – even in flights to and from Israel.
The ICC looked into consumers' awareness of this fact, and their opinion in the matter.
Over 51% of the respondents said they were unaware that foreign airlines that operate flights to and from Israel do so while passing over hostiles countries.
According to the poll, 54% of Israelis said knowledge of the flight route of a foreign airline over a hostile country would influence their decision on purchasing a ticket from the company.
Israeli consumers would like more information on the flight route, with 83% of respondents saying they believe providing such information, including passage over hostile countries, is the responsibility of the travel agent, whether or not the consumer asks for it.
ICC CEO Ehud Peleg said the findings of the poll show that information on airlines' flight routes is considered important to the majority of consumers.
He said he feels travel agents should inform their customers of flights that pass over hostile countries, in order to allow them to factor this in and decide whether to fly with such a company.
"Free choice is a consumer's basic right," Peleg said, "and it is only possible when the consumer is provided with all the relevant information in full to make a decision."
The poll was conducted by the Geocartography research institute among a nationwide representative sample of 500 respondents.
