El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) and Massachusetts officials have announced that the Israeli carrier will begin direct flights between Ben Gurion Airport and Boston's Logan Airport next year.
The Tel Aviv-Boston route is expected to begin in June with three weekly flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The flights are scheduled to depart Israel at 12.30 am. and arrive in the US at 5.45 am. The Boston-Tel Aviv flights will leave at 9 pm. the same day and arrive in Israel the following day at 3.05 pm. The route will be serviced by 218-seat Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said the service will open up commercial and economic opportunities for Massachusetts and the region. He said, “The appetite for it runs deep. The excitement about it is broad, and we are convinced that both the load and the yield will be as good for El Al as I know the route will be for us.”
Patrick said that 200 companies with Israeli roots operate in Massachusetts, employing nearly 7,000 people with an emphasis on technology and healthcare.
El Al currently flies directly to only three US cities - New York, Newark and Los Angeles.
El Al CEO David Maimon said that the Israeli carrier hoped that it would very quickly be able to increase the number of weekly Tel Aviv-Boston flights to five.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 11, 2014
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