Ryanair to fly to Israel for €29.99
Irish low-cost company to offer flights from Budapest and Krakow to Ovda Airport near Eilat. 'It's not profitable for us to fly to Tel Aviv,' commercial director explains.
The Irish airline, which has almost 40% of the market share of low-cost seats in Europe, announced Tuesday that it is starting to carry out "experimental" flights to Israel, as was first reported by Ynet.
According to David O'Brien, commercial director of the company, it decided to run test flights this winter from a number of European destinations, including Budapest and Krakow, to Ovda Airport.
In total, there will be six flights a week. "We intend to bring tourists from these destinations looking for a winter sun holiday," O'Brien told Ynet.
"This is not necessarily directed at tourists interested in going to Eilat, but rather to tourists who will come due to the attractive price. A lot of tourists from these destinations fly to the Canary Islands in wintertime, but Israel is two hours less far each way, and the price is very attractive."
"It is not profitable for us to fly to Tel Aviv"
When asked why Ryanair does not fly to Tel Aviv, O'Brien said that under present conditions, it is not profitable for the company to fly there. "If I can run a plane between Athens and Santorini several times a day, it doesn't pay for me to run flights to Israel only once a day at a higher cost."
"We are in contact with the Israeli authorities regarding flights from Tel Aviv, but are unable to get what we want. We have no complaints against the authorities, and it's not the Israel Airports Authority, which is growing every year, which means that they are doing just fine. But we are not EasyJet and we do not operate under those conditions."
"Ben Gurion Airport's mode of operation does not fit the way we operate and our mode of operation doesn't fit that of Ben Gurion Airport. We do not want to participate in the Israeli tourist industry at any price. A plane of ours that flies to Israel can at the same time make more rounds in Europe, and for us that is much more economical."
