Israir
Template:Short description Template:Infobox airline Israir Airlines Ltd., more commonly referred to as Israir, is an Israeli low-cost airline headquartered in Tel Aviv.<ref>"Contact Israir Airlines Template:Webarchive." Israir Airlines. Retrieved on 23 September 2009. "Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd. 23 Ben Yehuda Street"</ref> It operates domestic scheduled and air taxi flights from Ben Gurion International Airport, Ramon Airport, and Haifa Airport as well as scheduled and charter international services from Ben Gurion International Airport to Europe and Asia.<ref name="About">Template:Cite web</ref> It also operates VIP flights, and is Israel's second-largest airline after El Al, surpassing Arkia Israel Airlines during the Coronavirus pandemic, employing some 350 staff.<ref name="About"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
History
Foundation and early years
Israir Airlines was established in 1989 as Kanfei HaEmek (Valley Wings) before changing its name to Israir Airlines in 1996. It is now wholly owned by the Rami Levi Group. The airline began with domestic services from Eilat Airport, Ben Gurion International Airport, Sde Dov Airport, and Haifa Airport in the north of the country. It expanded its operations to begin international charter flights in 1999, building up a route network that now covers much of Europe, as well as regularly flying to other destinations in Asia, Africa, and North America. The airline is said to have modeled itself on US low-cost carrier JetBlue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The airline expanded operations across the Atlantic Ocean when regular charter service to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport was started in June 2004.Template:Citation needed Permission was granted to the airline to convert this to regular scheduled service by the Israeli government and the FAA on May 1, 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This service was discontinued in September 2008, due to escalating fuel prices and the expectation of a drop in the number of passengers due to the weakness of the dollar at the time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After Israir was granted permission to operate scheduled service on the lucrative New York-Tel Aviv route, it also entered talks with both Boeing and Airbus regarding the acquisition of new aircraft to its fleet and replacement of its existing jets.Template:Citation needed The company was said to be in talks with Airbus over the A350 model.Template:Citation needed It also signed a deal to acquire Airbus A320 aircraft.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> This was a significant milestone in Israeli aviation, as no airline had ever before purchased Airbus aircraft.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2008, the airline received an Airbus A330 for its New York flights to replace the Boeing 767 aircraft it had previously been wet-leasing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Israir however meanwhile no longer flies to New York and has since phased out all long-haul aircraft.
In early 2007, the airline announced plans to introduce Sky-Torah scrolls on each of its aircraft.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These were effectively Torah scrolls which would be carried on board its flight for Jewish passengers to use for prayer. This is a first for any Israeli airline and was seen by many as a means to attract many Haredi passengers to the airline at a time when they were showing great dissatisfaction with arch-rival, El Al, following their flying of aircraft on the Shabbat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later on in 2007, an Israir passenger announced he was filing a lawsuit against the airline for misadvertising the legroom they offered on their aircraft.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In early 2008, when restrictions were lifted on Israeli airlines' destinations, Israir applied for designated carrier status on routes from Israel to London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Amsterdam, Rome, Budapest, Las Vegas, and Miami – some of which were destinations served by the airline as charter routes back then.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Developments since 2010
Israir received the first of the two ATR 72 aircraft it had on order in early July 2011 to replace the ATR 42, with the second one expected to follow later that month.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014, the airline posted losses of 18.4 million shekel.<ref name="aerotelegraph.com"/> On 25 May 2015, an Israir Airbus A320-200 has been seized by Portuguese authorities while in Lisbon over unpaid debts to Portuguese airline euroAtlantic Airways for a leasing contract in 2008.<ref name="aerotelegraph.com">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Also in May 2015, El Al confirmed it was in talks to merge its subsidiary Sun D'Or into Israir. While Sun D'Or would be dissolved, El Al would gain shares in Israir instead.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In October 2020, it was announced that the company is being auctioned off, the bids need to be submitted by November 8. On October 4, the first bid was submitted by Rami Levy and Shalom Haim through BGI Investments.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On October 13, Dubai-based NY Koen Group, headed by Naum Koen, has announced its intention to participate in the auction.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Destinations
Codeshare partners
Israir has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:
- Smartwings<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Fleet
Template:As of, Israir operates the following aircraft:<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 8 | 168 - 180 | Including 5 in ownership<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| Total | 8 | |||
Incidents and accidents
- In June 2001, one of Israir's ATR 42-320 aircraft was damaged beyond repair following a heavy landing at Ben Gurion Airport. Despite the aircraft being written off, no passengers were injured in this incident.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- On July 6, 2005 a fully loaded Israir 767 accidentally taxied onto an active runway at JFK, and a Douglas DC-8 cargo aircraft narrowly avoided collision by taking off at full throttle above them, with only 45 feet of clearance over the 767.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- In May 2007, an Israir aircraft on a test flight was almost shot down by Israeli F-16 jets after it entered a demarcation zone where airlines are expected to identify themselves.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Later that month, on May 23, an Israir flight had to make an emergency landing following smoke build up in the cabin on approach at Berlin-Schönefeld International Airport. No one was injured in the incident.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>
- In July 2008, an Israir aircraft flew from Eilat Airport to Ben Gurion International Airport with a small hole in its frame. The hole was discovered by mechanics at Ben Gurion and there was an investigation as to whether or not Israir knew of the hole, which, as it turns out, was caused by Israir workers in Eilat when they crashed a mobile staircase into the aircraft's body. The plane was scheduled to fly to Italy from Tel Aviv, and at an altitude of over 10,000 meters, the plane would most likely have experienced a decompression.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- In January 2025, an Israir aircraft that was meant to fly from Tel Aviv to London declared an emergency and returned to Ben Gurion International Airport after flying in circles for three hours to burn fuel before landing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
External links
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