Minister of Transportation Amnon Lipkin-Shahak today gave approval for El Al to fly tourists arriving on its flights at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel to Eilat. As a result, El Al will reduce is agreement with Arkia, which currently carries passengers from Ben Gurion Airport to Eilat.
El Al and Arkia are now in confrontation, due to Arkia's request to launch regular flights to Jordan, which Shahak has approved. In response, on the same day, El Al announced it intention to launch internal flights to Eilat, competing for Arkia's main source of income.
Today's approval means that tourists arriving in Israel on international El Al flights can continue to Eilat on the same ticket - and may do so even if they wish to stay in the center of the country for a while. In Shahak's opinion, the approval will increase the number of tourists entering Israel in general and Eilat in particular, and will constitute an incentive to market Eilat and Tel Aviv as a complemtary package overseas.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 2 August 2000