Israir Wants To Fly From Tel Aviv To New York, End EL AL Monopoly

Currently EL AL is the only airline flying between Israel and the United States, and as you’d expect, fares are sky high. A second Israeli airline now wants to compete with EL AL, though I’m skeptical about this becoming a reality.

Israir wants to lease planes to fly long haul

Israir has announced plans to launch nonstop flights between Tel Aviv and New York, with the hope of this service launching during the upcoming winter season. Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has reportedly initiated talks with US regulators, to enable this kind of service to happen.

The challenge is that Israir can’t actually operate these flights with its own aircraft, given that it only has a fleet of eight Airbus A320s, which aren’t capable of operating such a long route. Instead, Israir wants to wet lease two wide body aircraft in order to facilitate this service. With a wet lease agreement, Israir would be selling and marketing the flights, while the aircraft and crew would be provided by another operator.

Here’s what Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev had to say about this plan:

“I thank the CAA for their thorough work that enables significant relief in the flight crisis created due to the war. Israeli companies are demonstrating national responsibility in their mobilization during this challenging period. I commend Rami Levy and Israir Airlines for their initiative to operate a New York route, a step that will contribute to healthy competition, expanded options for the public, and lower flight prices.”

It goes without saying that operating flights between Israel and the United States can be lucrative. The demand is there, the problem is just being able to operate the service consistently and safely. EL AL has been operating pretty consistently over the past year or so, given the carrier’s unique situation.

Not only is EL AL entirely reliant on the Israeli market to be able to stay in business, but the aircraft at the airline also have special safety features that aircraft at other airlines don’t have.

While Delta and United have tried to resume flights to Israel multiple times, the service was just too inconsistent, as it had to be pulled multiple times over safety concerns. For now, both airlines seem to have suspended the service indefinitely, for all practical purposes.

Launching this flight seems like an uphill battle

It goes without saying that Israir faces quite some challenges to be able to launch this service, and I remain skeptical. For one, getting approval to launch new international routes can take months, and the airline is hoping to launch this service soon. While the Israeli authorities have tentatively given approval for the plan, there’s a lot more to be done.

The bigger challenge is that Israir hasn’t yet found a wet lease partner willing to operate this service. It goes without saying that some wet lease operators might not be willing or able to take on this kind of project, either due to the terms of their aircraft insurance, or due to a general risk assessment.

So we’ll see what comes of this. Even without any partnerships and with limited marketing and lead time, I’m sure the Tel Aviv to New York would be extremely lucrative under current conditions, given the lack of competition. Of course this could quickly become less profitable if other airlines were to restart service as well.

Bottom line

Israir has announced plans to launch flights between Tel Aviv and New York, a route that’s currently only operated by EL AL. The challenge is that Israir doesn’t have planes capable of operating the service, so the airline would need to lease aircraft in order to make this work. Whether or not the airline can find a wet lease operator for this service, plus whether the route gets approval, remains to be seen.

What do you make of the prospect of Israir launching New York flights?