Sources inform “Globes” that Arkia Airlines and Israir are negotiating to merge some of their operations, beginning with their international charters.
The negotiations began several weeks ago and are due to end soon. The cooperation is aimed at competing with El Al and its charter subsidiary Sun D’Or.
Arkia and Israir have been competing fiercely in recent years, and there has not been any significant cooperation between them. Arkia was for years Israel’s only airline for domestic and international charter flights. Israir broke Arkia’s domestic monopoly in 1996.
Israir, owned by Nochi Dankner and Avi Fisher’s Ganden group, later began competing against Arkia for international charters on Middle Eastern, African and European routes.
Most of the competition is on the routes from Ben Gurion Airport and Sde Dov Airport in Tel Aviv to Eilat. They also used to compete on flights from the north of the country to the center. After Israir suspended these routes, due to their lack of profitability, Arkia was left as the only airline flying to the north.
Arkia president and CEO Prof. Israel (Izzy) Borovich and Israir general manager Sabina Biran are leading the negotiations. They aim to sign a cooperation agreement to be implemented within a few months.
The airlines will reportedly initially collaborate on key European routes, including London, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Budapest and Rhodes. The reason for choosing these destinations is El Al’s charter flights to them through Sun D’Or.
Arkia and Israir regard El Al’s entry to the field as unfair competition, especially in light of past negotiations between the three airlines to cooperate on international flights to and from Israel against foreign airlines.
Sun D’Or competes against Arkia on destinations in Europe, the Middle East and Far East, and is expected to compete against Israir on US routes, beginning in June. Sun D’Or flew charter flights to New York last year, and will resume them this year, after obtaining Ministry of Transport approval, following a struggle against Arkia.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on February 11, 2003