In recent years, we’ve seen EL AL report record profits, and the company is even facing a class action lawsuit, and is being accused of wartime price gouging. EL AL’s ticket prices have been through the roof, so a new competitor wants to enter the market, and establish a base there.
Continue reading: EL AL Slams Wizz Air Israel Expansion On “National Resilience” Grounds
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
There are those who post here who cannot tell the difference between a terrorist, a criminal and an innocent Israeli baby. Uneducated hypocrites, plane and simple just like Jane, etc, will now vent their antisemitic spleens …. lucky, Lucky, more click bait.
I am a big supporter of Israel and have a great deal of respect for her people. That said, stereotypes exist for a reason and here's an example of a Jewish corporation being, shall we say, "unnecessarily frugal". Reminds of that Family Guy episode where Peter converted to Judaism and was bragging that something was $30, but said "I "ussed them down" to like $25, Yeah, that was a real expression back in the day. El Al is definitely acting like that. 😀
I believe the issue here is that Wizz Air wants to open a base without actually complying with Israeli law regarding employee salaries and accomodations. That makes a big difference in their ability to match fares.
As an aside, ELAL has actually kept prices pretty low for non last minute availability.
See here:
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-regev-set-to-decide-on-wizz-air-israel-hub-1001517972
"Currently, Israeli carriers have a comparative advantage in that their aircraft are based in Israel and can take advantage of the first and last slots of the day, which are preferred by passengers. If Wizz Air were to establish a base in Israel, it would be able to enjoy the same terms, and become a dominant player during peak hours.
While Israeli airlines have an advantage in slot allocation, they are subject to regulations that do not apply to foreign companies, including strict wage agreements and security arrangements and coordinating with El Al, which is also the security services provider. If Wizz Air were to open a hub in Israel and ask to register as an Israeli company, the same regulations will also apply to it. However, industry sources believe there is no obvious reason for Wizz Air to do so. Moreover, during talks with Wizz Air, it became claer that it has no plans to agree to open its hub at Ramon Airport near Eilat, but only at Ben Gurion Airport, and it does not intend setting up an Israeli subsidiary."
Every online article tangentially related to Israel, Palestine, El Al, Tel Aviv, Gaza, Jewish people, Palestinian people... it eventually turns into a lighting rod for someone to post anti-semitic, or anti-Muslim, hate-filled trash.
But, for the 35,000+ posts on his blog, Lucky's job is to gather information (on topics that interest him as the publisher), share his perspective and literally hope the most people possible will take interest enough to click and read. This isn't a private journal, it's his form of journalism and an incredible public service to the rest of us.
For those who dislike the trash comments that others make, we have three choices: don't open the comments section, don't click on posts on topics we aren't keen on, or don't come to his blog anymore. I often choose the first two options, but have never thought to resort to the last.
A company trying to use the government to block competition - old story.
This is unlikely to work, given that Israeli transportation minister recently visited Budapest and met Wizz CEO Jozsef Varadi. This means she can take credit for Wizz entering Israel, and no way she'd let political credit go to waste.
And Israel currently badly needs capacity. Flights to/from anywhere in Europe sell great, and there's demand for much more. Wizz can provide this without hurting Israeli airlines much
A company trying to use the government to block competition - old story.
This is unlikely to work, given that Israeli transportation minister recently visited Budapest and met Wizz CEO Jozsef Varadi. This means she can take credit for Wizz entering Israel, and no way she'd let political credit go to waste.
And Israel currently badly needs capacity. Flights to/from anywhere in Europe sell great, and there's demand for much more. Wizz can provide this without hurting Israeli airlines much
"...a Jewish corporation being, shall we say, 'unnecessarily frugal'."
And you're being obtuse and too clever by half in trying to dog-whistle "cheap Jews." The readers here aren't dumb, and you're grotesque. Go to some more Trump rallies and stay off the comments sections of blogs.
Trump rallies? Maybe go to some more college campuses, and bathe in the anti-Semitism of the Left. Open your eyes!
Of course they object! When competitors fled Israel after October 7, 2023, El Al immediately jacked up prices to exploit their monopoly position - classic price gouging and war profiteering. Despite operating costs dropping 3%, their profits exploded fivefold to $545 million in 2024, exceeding the company's total cumulative profits from the 15 years preceding the war. El Al is now facing a $600 million lawsuit for 'exploiting an unprecedented national tragedy,' they're invoking 'national resilience' to block Wizz Air and preserve their monopolistic grip on Israeli aviation.
We fly to Israel regularly and have no special love for El Al. It's a parasitic organization that wraps itself in the flag to distract from the fact that they provide a mediocre product and charge too much for it
El Al is just jealous. If El Al offers a good product at a reasonable price, only an idiot would fly Wizz Air.
Every single airlines tries to protect their home bases. El Al is no different. Lufthansa has done this, United has done this, British Airways, Qantas ... this list goes on and on.
The antisemitic comments are abhorrent, but not unexpected.
If Israeli government backs up this request, EU should ban Israeli companies from flying to EU....
LOL, every time anything related to Israel is criticised its automatically antisemitic?
Son’t forget the innocent Palestinians babies, which many people also overlook.
No one is trying to ban Wizzair from flying to Israel. The conflict is about Wizzair launching a local subsidiary there, something Israeli companies would already be unable to do in the EU, as EU requires majority stake to be controlled by the EU nationals.
For the purpose of this comments section, let’s replace “Israel” with “Russia”. Take away the bias for-against Israel and antisemitism and respond to this as a company protecting its turf. Go…
It's not, but claiming Israel does not have a right to exist or defend itself is anti-semitic. Supporting the terrorists that Israel is fighting instead of Israel itself is also anti-Semitic.
Again with the bullsh*t that supporting Palestinians and their right to exist is somehow anti-semitic…
Also, shouldn’t Palestinians have the right to defend themselves as well?
100% I couldn't agree more. El Al's actions after October 7, 2023, went beyond opportunism and crossed into outright exploitation. Capitalizing on a national crisis to inflate profits while hiding behind patriotic rhetoric is both unethical and infuriating. The numbers speak for themselves—profits exploding fivefold while costs decrease only underscores how predatory their approach was. Calling it "national resilience" while suppressing competition like Wizz Air is just another way to cement their monopoly and avoid accountability. It’s hard not to feel frustrated by a company that charges premium prices for a subpar experience while disguising greed as patriotism. You nailed it—they're a parasitic organization cloaked in the flag.
El Al’s manipulative behavior in this saga perfectly exemplifies why immoral, unethical business practices should not only be called out but heavily regulated—if not outright illegal—in Israel and everywhere else. While they shamelessly cry about “competitive inequality” and “national resilience,” they have conveniently ignored their disgraceful track record of exploiting Israeli citizens and international travelers alike. Their wartime price gouging after October 2023 wasn’t just unethical; it crossed the moral line into blatant opportunism, taking advantage of a vulnerable population during a time of crisis. In many other countries, such predatory behavior would be met with harsh regulatory action and substantial penalties. Yet, in Israel, they face little to no meaningful consequences.
El Al’s argument against Wizz Air entering the market reeks of self-serving hypocrisy. They claim competition will harm Israel’s aviation sector, but the truth is, they don’t want competition because it would expose their inefficiency, monopolistic dominance, and inability to deliver value to customers at fair prices. Let’s not forget: competition exists to protect consumers, not monopolists. If El Al truly believes they represent the gold standard for Israeli aviation, let them prove it in a fair market. Instead, they cling to government interventions and nationalist rhetoric to shield themselves from the very competition that would force them to improve.
What makes this even more egregious is the sheer cynicism behind their claims. By gouging prices during Israel’s most vulnerable moments, they revealed where their priorities lie—corporate greed, not “national resilience.” If El Al were truly invested in national resilience, they wouldn’t have inflicted financial pain on their own citizens to pad their bottom line. Governments should prioritize *consumers* over corporations who exploit their position.
El Al needs to stop disguising unethical, monopolistic practices as patriotism. If their business model can’t survive competition, then perhaps the problem isn’t Wizz Air or the open market—it’s El Al itself. Instead of suppressing competition, Israel should be enacting stronger consumer protection and airline accountability laws to ensure companies like El Al can never exploit their customers in this way again. It’s time for the Israeli government to put an end to El Al’s monopolistic abuses, hold them accountable for their wartime profiteering, and prioritize fairness and transparency in aviation for the benefit of Israeli citizens and travelers.
It really gets tiring. Not everything is antisemitic. This is coming from a black person who is also tired of everything labelled as racism, even when the black person is obviously wrong
El Al already uses Klasjet on a wet lease basis to sidestep many of these same obligations.
'Against Israel and antisemitism'. Criticising Israeli politics when it comes to their military interventions and antisemitism are two very very different things. No?
But, aren't they? They're absolutely reinforcing the stereotype. Which certainly isn't true all of the time, but it hits home often enough (such as this case) that it doesn't go away.
And yes, I'm an ardent supporter of Israel and of the Israelis. And El Al's behaviour (beyond this) as far as pricing is concerns has been ridiculous. No wonder they don't want Wizz Air anywhere near their market.
It's too bad that Wizz's seat pitch is worse than Spirit's. Also no option of premium seating. It's a good airline for " little people".
El Al is required to always provide flights to/from Israel.
El Al is required by religious law to fly 6 days a week, no more.
El Al is unable to set up as a airline based n Europe while WIZ does have that option.
WIZ has tried and failed at other bases and could easily pull the plug on Israel when the going gets tough.
For the above reasons I believe EL Al has a decent argument.
Agree fully. LY is a 2nd rate, high Fare airline. I recently looked at a flight from TLV to NRT, and LY was thousands more expensive than traveling through Europe. They need competition in the worst way. The govt will never let LY go under regardless. Jdog nailed it. Besides Whizz needs somewhere to base its extra aircraft after shutting down in DXB.
It is not unusual for a long haul nonstop to cost more than a route requiring multiple flights. The airlines are whizzes! at setting these fares.
I am no fan of LY but they have a legit argument. They will fly when inconvenient while others pull out. In fact, the only thought of Wiz to set up here is after they decamped from Dubai.
Israel does allow flights on the Sabbath but will not allow an Israeli airline to do so. Allowing Wiz to get the benefits of being based in Israel while avoiding the negatives would be unfair.
ElAl required to fly to and from Israel. Where else is it going to fly to and from? Teheran? Kabul?
ElAl is not required by law to not fly on Saturday. It's their choice to do so.
ElAl can set up an airline in Europe. Just follow the rules. One rule is a maximum 49% ownership and 51% by local Europeans.
Therefore, ElAl has no case using Moe's reasoning. ElAl should stop acting like Hamas and just recognize Wizz Air's right to exist.
Nazi hungarians and their pseudo flag carrier! how dare they?, but seriously how can this be news, this blog has gone downhill since the start of the conflict, now everything is about Israel, El Al and the like.
It's still surprising that many europeans wanna visit The Holy Land under these circumstances, and the systematic mistreatment of christians by the state of israel and israeli police. This is not a good time to increase TLV flights, Israel will see a huge decrease in tourism in the coming years. It seems desperate that they take this approach after their failed attempt in AHU.
Hungary is one of the few countries left that doesn’t consider Isreal a pariah state. Not shocking that they want to enter that market. My moral compass will never fly on either airline.
I disagree as a travel agent booking many flights to israel i can tell you that since oct. 7 90% of the time ly is the cheapest option to and from israel.
In an ideal and fair world, Israel would face sanctions at least equal to those of 1980s South Africa.
In a fair world, they would be treated as genocidal maniacs that are a threat to the world.
Give it time. If Bibi gets Trump mad someday, the tantrum will be for the ages.
A foreign company wishing to bring new business to Israel STRENGTHENS Israel's economy, and as a result, strengthens Israel.
I have always held the belief that it won’t be Palestinians, Hamas, student protestors, or anyone else that will bring down Israel.
It’s their own companies and their own people that will slowly whittle themselves down and one part of it is an airline that does nothing to benefit the regular Israeli nor does it do a good job being a representative of Israel to the world.
I think both of you should take some lessons on how economics work, particularly airlines. You are both pretty off with your assessment and have no idea of the facts on the ground (or in the air, shall I say?)
In a fair world, your teacher would get a failing grade for not teaching you basic critical thinking skills.
You have the oppressor and the oppressed flipped. The Hamas propaganda worked on you.
What a stupid comment and way to make light of Israel's enemies who seek to push every Jew into the sea (in their own words).
What a stupid comment and way to make light of Israel's enemies who seek to push every Jew into the sea (in their own words).
Maybe go visit for yourself and see how activist journalists (in plain English, propagandists for Hamas) have misled you and thousands of others.
Defend themselves against Jews going shopping with their kids and eating pizza in the pizza shop by blowing them up to smithereens?
If that's what they teach you, then heaven help us all.