Since the first day of the war, El Al has been following the changes in customer preferences and making adjustments to the flight schedule accordingly. Following the ongoing security situation, there is a significant decrease in demand among Israeli travelers to various destinations in the world. After the company announced the delay of the line to Johannesburg in South Africa, the drop in demand was also reflected in other destinations including Dublin in Ireland and Marrakesh in Morocco. Starting from the beginning of April 2024 and for the entire upcoming summer season, El Al will not renew its operations on the routes in question, in order to adjust the mix of destinations to demand. All passengers whose flights will be canceled will be informed and offered alternatives. The suspension of the lines allows the expansion of the activity and the addition of hundreds of flights to the existing and sought-after destinations, alongside the examination of options for new destinations.
The line to Dublin was launched last March as a seasonal line for the summer period only, and won sympathy among the business market and families. The line, which was planned to operate until the end of November 2023, was suspended at the beginning of November in order to reinforce desired targets during the war. Now, in light of a significant decrease in demand for the destination since the beginning of the war, El Al will not resume the line’s activity for the upcoming summer schedule, and will continue to monitor demand to examine its operation in the future.
The flights to Marrakesh in Morocco were stopped in October and during the current period the travel warning for Israelis to this destination was raised to level 3. The increase in the level of risk significantly decreased the Israelis’ sense of security at the destination, and accordingly also the demand to fly there.
Shlomi Zafarani, VP of Commercial and Aviation Relations at El Al: “Since the outbreak of the war, El Al has made sure to strengthen the network of routes to the desired destinations in order to continue to preserve the air bridge. Given the situation, we frequently monitor the changes in customer preferences and the intensity of demand, and as part of adjusting our mix of destinations, we have decided not to renew the routes to Ireland and Morocco for the upcoming summer season. Improving the flight schedule allows us to add during the summer season about 500 flights on other popular routes in Europe, and to connect Israel to a wide variety of destinations around the world, while exploring new options.”
Photo by Ido Wachtel