Israir Airlines Ltd., more commonly referred to as Israir, is an Israeli
airline
An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...
headquartered in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
. It operates domestic scheduled and air taxi flights from
Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport, ; ar, مطار بن غوريون الدولي , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, it is th ...
,
Ramon Airport, and
Haifa Airport as well as international
charter services from Ben Gurion International Airport to Europe and Asia.
It also operates VIP flights, and is Israel's second-largest airline after
El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugura ...
, surpassing
Arkia Israel Airlines during the
Coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...
, employing some 350 staff.
History
![4X-ATI LLBG25-07-2014a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/4X-ATI_LLBG25-07-2014a.jpg)
Israir Airlines was established in 1989 as Kanfei HaEmek (Valley Wings) before changing its name to Israir Airlines in 1996. It is now wholly owned by the Ganden Group. The airline began with domestic services from Eilat Airport, Ben Gurion International Airport, Sde Dov Airport, and Haifa Airport in the north of the country. It expanded its operations to begin international
charter flights in 1999, building up a route network that now covers much of Europe, as well as regularly flying to other destinations in Asia, Africa, and North America. The airline is said to have modeled itself on US
low-cost carrier
JetBlue
JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York C ...
.
The airline expanded operations across the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
when regular charter service to New York City's
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
was started in June 2004. Permission was granted to the airline to convert this to regular scheduled service by the Israeli government and the
FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
on May 1, 2006. This service was discontinued in September 2008, due to escalating fuel prices and the expectation of a drop in the number of passengers due to the weakness of the dollar at the time. After Israir was granted permission to operate scheduled service on the lucrative New York-Tel Aviv route, it also entered talks with both Boeing and
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...
regarding the acquisition of new aircraft to its fleet and replacement of its existing jets. The company was said to be in talks with Airbus over the A350 model. It also signed a deal to acquire
Airbus A320
The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus.
The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France.
The first member of the famil ...
aircraft. This was a significant milestone in Israeli aviation, as no airline had ever before purchased Airbus aircraft. In April 2008, the airline received an
Airbus A330
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus.
Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
for its New York flights to replace the
Boeing 767 aircraft it had previously been wet-leasing. Israir however meanwhile no longer flies to New York and has since phased out all long-haul aircraft.
In early 2007, the airline announced plans to introduce ''Sky-Torah'' scrolls on each of its aircraft. These were effectively
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
scrolls which would be carried on board its flight for
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
passengers to use for prayer. This is a first for any Israeli airline and was seen by many as a means to attract many
Haredi
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
passengers to the airline at a time when they were showing great dissatisfaction with arch-rival,
El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugura ...
, following their flying of aircraft on the
Shabbat. Later on in 2007, an Israir passenger announced he was filing a lawsuit against the airline for misadvertising the legroom they offered on their aircraft.
In early 2008, when restrictions were lifted on Israeli airlines' destinations, Israir applied for designated carrier status on routes from Israel to London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow,
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
, Rome,
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
,
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, and
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
– some of which were destinations served by the airline as charter routes back then.
Israir received the first of the two
ATR 72
The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed ...
aircraft it had on order in early July 2011 to replace the
ATR 42, with the second one expected to follow later that month.
In 2014, the airline posted losses of 18.4 million
shekel
Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...
.
On 25 May 2015, an Israir
Airbus A320-200
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...
has been seized by Portuguese authorities while in Lisbon over unpaid debts to Portuguese
euroAtlantic Airways
EuroAtlantic Airways, legally ''EuroAtlantic Airways – Transportes Aéreos S.A.'', is a Portuguese airline specialized in leasing and air charter headquartered in Sintra and based at Lisbon Airport.
History
Founded as Air Zarco on 23 August ...
for a leasing contract in 2008.
[http://www.aerotelegraph.com/flugzeug-israir-lissbaon-beschlagnahmt-fusion-sun-dor-el-al]
Also in May 2015,
El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugura ...
confirmed to be in talks to merge its subsidiary
Sun D'Or into Israir Airlines. While Sun D'Or would be dissolved, El Al would gain shares in Israir instead.
In October 2020, it was announced that the company is being auctioned off, the bids need to be submitted by November 8. On October 4, the first bid was submitted by
Rami Levy and Shalom Haim through BGI Investments. On October 13, Dubai-based
NY Koen Group, headed by
Naum Koen
Naum Koen (Russian: Наум Коен) is an UAE-based Israeli-Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist who is the founder and CEO of NY Koen Group. Koen is the chairman and founder of the Jewish Community Center of UAE. He was named Honorary Ch ...
, has announced its intention to participate in the auction.
Destinations
Fleet
The Israir fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of June 2022):
Incidents and accidents
* In June 2001, one of Israir's
ATR 42-320
The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France.
On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and A ...
aircraft was damaged beyond repair following a heavy landing at Ben Gurion Airport. Despite the aircraft being written off, no passengers were injured in this incident.
* On July 6, 2005 a fully loaded Israir 767 accidentally taxied onto an active runway at
JFK
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
, and a
Douglas DC-8
The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company.
After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in July ...
cargo aircraft
A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft usually do not incorporate passenger ...
narrowly avoided collision by taking off at full throttle above them, with only 45 feet of clearance over the 767.
* In May 2007, an Israir Airlines aircraft on a test flight was almost shot down by
Israeli F-16 jets after it entered a demarcation zone where airlines are expected to identify themselves.
* Later that month, on May 23, an Israir flight had to make an emergency landing following smoke build up in the cabin on approach at
Berlin-Schönefeld International Airport. No one was injured in the incident.
* In July 2008, an Israir Airlines aircraft flew from
Eilat Airport
Eilat Airport ( he, שְׂדֵה הַתְּעוּפָה אֵילַת, Namal HaTe'ufa Eilat; ar, مطار إيلات ), also known as J. Hozman Airport, was an airport located in Eilat, Israel. It was named after Arkia Airlines founder Yakov H ...
to
Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport, ; ar, مطار بن غوريون الدولي , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, it is th ...
with a small hole in its frame. The hole was discovered by mechanics at Ben Gurion and there is an ongoing probe as to whether or not Israir knew of the hole, which, as it turns out, was caused by Israir workers in Eilat when they crashed a mobile staircase into the aircraft's body. The plane was scheduled to fly to Italy from Tel Aviv, and at an altitude of over 10,000 meters, the plane would most likely have experienced a decompression.
References
External links
*
{{IATA members, europe
Companies based in Tel Aviv
Airlines established in 1996
Airlines established in 1989
Airlines of Israel
Israeli brands
Israeli companies established in 1989
Israeli companies established in 1996