Arkia Airlines Ltd. today announced it was adding four destinations to its available flights: a weekly flight on Monday to and from Olbia, Sardinia, starting in July, from $500; Passover flights to Salonika, Greece, which will cost $350 starting in June; three weekly flights to Stansted Airport in London, starting at $600, during Passover and starting in May; and flights to Milan, Italy from late May until October on Sunday and Thursday, and in July-August on Sundays, Tuesday, and Thursday, starting at $400.
Arkia has already begun operating flights to Belgrade.
Arkia has submitted a request to operate flights to New York on its new Airbus airliner, and competition on this line is likely to be interesting.
Commenting on the Israeli consumer's need for new destinations and the new airplanes, Arkia International CEO Oz Berlowitz said, "We are working on identifying the needs of the Israeli public, which is seeking every year to diversify its vacation destinations, while expanding activity at successful existing destinations. Increasing the volume of activity in 2017 was made possible by the addition of a fifth Embraer airliner to Arkia's fleet of airplanes."
New destinations for Israeli tourists include those by Ryanair, which announced its entry into Israel with 15 new destinations, including flights to Baden-Baden, Gdansk, Poznan, and more. These flights will be operated starting in October at $40-50.
Air France has also announced the commencement of direct flights from Tel Aviv to Nice starting on July 22 (four weekly flights), starting at $342. Flights to Bilbao in the Basque region of Spain will begin at €540 a flight. Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines is offering a bargain campaign for the Chinese Year of the Chicken, during which tickets from Tel Aviv to Beijing will be available starting at $500 on flights in February-March.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on February 5, 2017
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