Rami Levy, one of the controlling owners of the Israeli airline Israir, told Ynet on Thursday: “We want Israir to start flying to New York and Thailand.”
This follows news that senior company officials, including Levy’s partner in Israir, Shalom Haim, and CEO Uri Sirkis visited Airbus’s headquarters in France last week to test the possibility of purchasing wide-body, long-range aircraft needed for long-haul flights. “We are looking into this area, but it won’t be something immediate,” Levy added.
If the deal goes through, Israir would compete with El Al on one of its most profitable routes to New York, potentially altering the market and increasing competition in the country. A source close to Levy told Ynet, “This is Rami’s agenda – like his approach with other products, when he sees an expensive product, he looks for ways to make it cheaper for consumers.”
Israir is reportedly considering purchasing four Airbus aircraft, but in order to complete the deal the company will need to raise capital to fund the purchase, which is valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. Such fundraising could dilute the controlling owners’ holdings.
Meanwhile, Israir is awaiting Airbus’s proposal regarding payment terms, delivery schedules and more, which will impact the decision to advance the plan. Israir’s management will need to submit a plan for board approval, and therefore the company isn’t required to report to the stock exchange about its deal at present.
Flights to New York were until recently El Al’s exclusive domain since foreign airlines ceased flying the route following the start of the war in Gaza. The route is highly profitable due to El Al raising ticket prices which reach up to $2,000 and above in economy class, and up to $10,000 in business class.
Prices haven’t yet decreased even with the return of Delta and United Airlines, although each airline currently operates only one flight per day, while El Al currently operates an average of 10 such flights daily.