The question is: Will people here living in Israel also be able to avail of these discounted flights, or will the Israeli airlines who have a monopoly torpedo that?

This would be great news, and would even cut the cost of flights to Israel for North Americans.

If the low budget airlines are allowed to fly to Israel no doubt it will create the biggest boom for tourism from europe. No doubt many cheap hotels will spring everywhere in Israel and the economy will receive a badly needed uplift. There remains to be seen whether our ministers will allow this to happen or use a blinkered view to protect the quasi monopli that exists. People from the UK are paying exhorbitant fares to Tel-Aviv and this is limiting visitors.

EL Al must be forced to compete fairly and so must Arkia and Israir. Arkia is now cancelling its flights to Kiriyat Shemonah. What has happened to the expansion of Haifa Airport? Why do we in the north still have to travel for hours to get to the airport? Where is the free enterprise system that Bibi promised us. Oops, I forgot that Bibi is a politician and like the others, has a licence to make empty promises! The ripoff by the travel agents must be stopped. Recently my daughter bought an open return ticket EL AL to London, as a student, through ISSTA. They charged her $30 to issue an E-Ticket. She then, after returning to Israel, bought a ticket , also open return, over the Intenet for the same flight and she was charged only $5 to have the ticket delived by courier from Tel Aviv. The public are being ripped off at every point! Minister Shitril, don't just sit and smile like with the train delays, do something! Elections are just around the corner.

Unfortunately, I believe that the time is not yet "ripe" ( will it be one day ??) for real free terprise in air transport from Israel to the rest of the world. It is called "protectionsim" Authorizing low cost airlines to fly out of Here would have a dreadful impact on employement at el al and Israir......and would create very little additional employment as Ryannair would go through a handling agent in Ben Gurion.... I have my doubts about the possible authorization....but one can always dream that Israel is geared towards free enterprise ....

While I cant speak for what it costs to use El Al from there, but I can tell you that flying TO Israel is also prohibitively expensive. Granted El Al has the reputation when it comes to security, but some of the prices are nuts. I have a friend getting married there in the coming summer (great story...met her chatan 48 hours after making aliyah through Nefesh B' Nefesh) and I was checking the prices for mid-July.....$1400 bucks folks. The only way I think I will get there is if I use my Skymiles as Delta is partnered with El Al. Free ticket, but give me a break. They need to get some more competition in there in lower the costs. The flights are long enough as it is from here. Israair is a nice start, but try finding a cheap flight...I can't. Also RE: El Al, they need to stop the minyan in the back of the plane while people are trying to sleep or eat. Some guy kept bumping his ass into my elbow while he was saying Shmona Esrei and shukling. I waited till he was done to let him know, but still.... Maybe we should have a gripe session when I come this summer.

Booked a flight 29 Sep 2006 on IsstaDirect (WST Holidays) it was Return Flight to Israel, for me and my wife. The flight from Stanstead Airport 21/11/06 at 22:45 The flight back to Stanstead Airport 28/11/06 at 18:20 I had business opportunity; business meeting that might change my life, at 12:30 on the 28th i.e the day of departure, silly I know but this is why I booked 2 months before. Booked the parking at stanstead for the 7 days, now listen to that!! Around the 30th OCT I received a call to my mobile, nice lade telling me the my flight back was canceled and that they need to give me alternative, fair enough I said just not morning! All I asked, “I will check and call you back” great! I replied. 2 hours later she said” I have the flight at nine”, great I said. Thinking 21:00 right, I cannot fly back in the morning, I get the confirmation on the 2nd of NOV not only 9:00AM but to a different airport, ho she said” it is what the contract says” so they took the day of the 28th from my holiday and I need to go from heathrow to stanstead after landing, contract!!! I phoned ABTA, they said” ho we are only making sure that they put this in the contract”, means you are not protecting us unless we start protecting our selves by reading every contract, now stop to think what it means? We are ticking boxes everyday!! And the people that say “well, you should read really” are the ones that didn’t get burned YET. I managed to get my flights by booking return tickets from another site and look at the attachments!! My flight back is with same the company that originally canceled only 50 minutes earlier!!! So for 50 minutes and buy another pair of tickets I got what I wanted, no one offered refund or taxi from one airport to another, and we are 2 weeks to the flight date but they cannot help you, because you paid already! Same story happen to my granddad, he booked seperatly with a totlly different dates, both flights been changed, 2 different airports (heathrow and stanstead) not only that his flight back was in the morning he had a stop-over in paris!!! Please contact if you have been through the same, we have contacted watchdog and the office for fair trading and we need more stories.