The Israeli airline will start operations for both routes in the late spring of 2020. Both routes will be operated three times per week with Boeing 737 aircraft. The Boeing 737 is the backbone of El Al’s medium-haul fleet with the airline operating 23 aircraft – 15 smaller 737-800 aircraft and eight larger 737-900ER aircraft. The airline operates the 737s mainly on European flights, with larger aircraft such as the Boeing 747, 777 and 787 operating to higher-demand destinations such as London, Paris, and Amsterdam.
El Al will operate the Tel Aviv to Dublin route from May 26 and will operate the route on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The Tel Aviv to Dusseldörf route will start one week later, on June 1, and will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The airline will begin its operations to Tokyo Narita two months earlier. From March 11, the airline will fly three times a week between Tel Aviv and the Japanese capital, on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday with a Boeing 787-8 and -9 Dreamliner.
El Al Announces New Routes (Cre: El Al).
El Al CEO Gonen Usiskhin stated: “As part of our growth strategy, we are working to extend our current operations and expand our network of routes and open routes to new destinations. In the last quarter, we commenced new routes to San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Manchester in addition to a new route to Nice in the first quarter. We have also announced new routes to Tokyo and Chicago, which will begin operating in March 2020 and today we have announced new routes to Dublin and Dusseldorf, which will begin operating for the summer of 2020.”
With adding two new European destinations, the airline is working on strengthening its European route network. While the airline has opened several new destinations to the United States and Asia, Europe remains its main market.
Usiskhin continues: “28,000 of El Al’s 32,000 annual flights are to Europe. This is a very important market, and we won’t neglect it. We’re not talking about profitability at the level of the individual route. I feel comfortable with Europe, which includes markets that are at the core of our strategies, such as London and Paris.”
Cre: Aeronautics online
Nguyen Mai Huong-COMM