The chaos in the activity of the foreign airlines in Israel has raised the demand to fly at any price. According to figures from tourism agency Spirit World Productions, demand for private flights has risen by 20% this month, in comparison with August 2023.
The uncertainty in the aviation industry has prevailed for a long time, and only this week Israel’s airspace was briefly closed on Sunday morning, because of the Israel Air Force’s preemptive strike on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, leading to many flight cancellations. Passengers waited at the airport for hours, while those returning to Israel found themselves diverted to other airports in the region, among them Ramon Airport in Eilat, Larnaka International Airport in Cyprus, and Cairo International Airport.
After October 7, foreign airlines gradually returned to Israel, some of them on a reduced schedule, but the Iranian attack in April and the killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which led to threats against Israel, upset things once more. Some airlines cancelled particular flights, while some suspended their activity for months ahead, and so more Israelis who can afford it have resorted to private flights as a solution.
According to the latest available Civil Aviation Authority data, from July, the number of passengers on private flights within Israel rose 30%, whereas the number on international private flights actually fell 20%. Companies selling private flights explain that demand for private international flights has risen dramatically in August, because of the threat from Iran.
Eyal Cohen, vice president of executive aviation at Aerohandling, says, "We have seen higher demand in August. Since the Iranian attack, the commercial aviation market has become a little less certain, foreign airlines have cancelled, and the private aviation market has remained comparatively stable. If we do a breakdown of destinations, Larnaka has certainly been the most common in the past month. From there, people connect to commercial flights."
Tali Yativ, CEO of Spirit World Productions, says, "The days of intense pressure at the beginning of the month led to a rise in demand for flying in private planes. At the end of the first week of August, there was great hysteria and a feeling that the security situation would worsen, and so demand was higher than ever. Of course, we’re talking about very specific families, and it’s happening because flights to destinations such as Thailand are very expensive, and people are looking for alternatives."
Yativ says that the demand for private flights is mainly for travel to the nearest Greek islands, "to places that have a vacant slot, and the plane can get there in as short a time as possible. I see a rising trend for nearby destinations, and it’s very close to the price of business class."
Buyer groups
Unlike with commercial airlines, for private flights the payment is not separate for each passenger but for the whole plane. As in a taxi, the more people who are on the plane, the lower the price per passenger. How much does a private plane cost for the coming week at one of the companies that sells private flights in Israel? We checked, and it isn’t cheap.
For an eleven-seater private plane, a one-way flight to Larnaka will cost $24,000, and one-way to Athens will cost $42,000. For a private plane with 30 seats, a one-way flight to Larnaka will cost $35,000, and a one-way flight to Athens will cost $54,000. This means that a passenger on a private plane to Larnaka will pay between $1,166 and $2,181, depending on the size of the plane (assuming that it’s full) while the longer flight to Athens will cost between $1,800 and $3,818. The prices are for Israeli planes, and in the event that the flight is cancelled for security reasons, the passengers will receive a full refund.
Prof. Uzi Freund-Feinstein of Kinneret College, an expert on tourism and travel, explains that there are several aspects to the high cost. "The pricing works in accordance with fuel costs, which are connected to the plane itself, and the cost of employing the pilots. Above 20 seats, a cabin steward is mandatory. All the extras such as meals and drinks are on top of this." The small number of passengers in comparison with a commercial flight affects the pricing per passenger.
Cohen says that buyer groups have been forming, "People who get together to fly on a private plane instead of flights that have been cancelled," he says. "There are currently between 40 and 45 executive planes in Israel, some of them owned privately, some of them belonging to commercial companies, and there has certainly been growth in the past few years."
Yativ relates that more and more travel agencies have recently been resorting to private flights to bring travelers who are stuck overseas back to Israel. "In the case of people in government and politicians, there are those who received draft orders, and chose to fly on private flights," she says. "It’s important to understand that seats in business class on El Al sell out very quickly, and, for those who wish to fly at that standard, there aren’t many other possibilities. We have seen cases of flights being cancelled, and people have to get to Israel, for a family event, for example, or a medical procedure, and that increases the urgency."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 27, 2024.
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