A 180-seat Airbus airliner today landed at Ben Gurion Airport to join the air fleet of Israir. The plane was leased for six years through a "dry" lease, meaning that Israir pilots and stewards will operate it ("wet" leasing also includes the crew of the company from which the plane was leased).

The new airliner is Israir's fourth Airbus 320. Its first flight, scheduled for this Friday, is to Batumi, Georgia. Israir is slated to receive another airplane, an ATR, for its fleet next month. Israir will then have a fleet of 10 airliners available for its flights: seven airplanes flown by Israir pilots and three planes available through wet leasing operated by foreign crews.

Israir VP marketing and sales Gil Stav called his company's measure "another significant step by the company in order to supply the growing demand for vacation packages and flights to new destinations being opened, such as Albania, Scotland, Sochi, Genoa, and Tenerife." Commenting on the fuel price rises worrying all the airlines, Stav added, "The addition of new airplanes will make it possible to curb the expected increase in fares following the rise in fuel prices."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 24, 2018

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