The supply of direct flights from Europe to Eilat received a boost with the announcement by Lufthansa of two lines from Germany: one from Frankfurt and one from Munich. Each route will have two weekly flights starting in October.
The German airline is celebrating 50 years of scheduled flights to Israel. Like the other airlines flying to Eilat in the winter, Lufthansa will also receive a €60 per passenger grant from Israel's Ministry of Tourism.
Payment of this grant formerly consisted of €45 per passenger from the Ministry of Tourism and €15 per passenger from Eilat hoteliers, but the Ministry of Tourism is now providing the entire subsidy. Last winter (2017-2018), subsidies received by airlines operating direct flights to Eilat totaled €50 million.
The addition of Lufthansa to the list of companies operating direct flights to Eilat is unusual because it is not a low-cost airline. While Air Europa, which recently announced flights from Madrid to Eilat, is also a regular airline, Lufthansa is one of the largest airlines in Europe.
Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin cited the increase in the number of flights from European destinations to Eilat, which he said had risen from four weekly flights three years ago to over 60 weekly flights at present.
Lufthansa Israel CEO Ofer Kish said that the announcement of the opening of a new route to Eilat showed the company's continued investment in the Israeli market and in Israeli passengers (in the hope that residents of Eilat and the south will fly from Eilat on direct flights to Munich and Frankfurt). The company will offer its passengers from Europe a combination of a flight from Germany to Eilat and a return flight from Ben Gurion Airport to Germany.
Another airline from the Lufthansa group to recently announce direct flights to Eilat is Edelweiss Air, which will operate a direct flight from Zurich to Ovda Airport in Eilat starting in October 2018 on the same date on which Lufthansa begins its flights to Eilat.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 18, 2018
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