LOW COST AIRLINES ANNOUNCE NEW ROUTES TO ISRAEL

12 July 2009

LOW COST AIRLINES ANNOUNCE NEW ROUTES TO ISRAEL
AIR BERLIN FROM BERLIN (IMMEDIATE)
AND EASYJET FROM LONDON LUTON (FROM 2.11.09)

The cost of flying between Israel and Europe is going down with the recent announcements by two low-cost airlines of new routes to Tel Aviv. Air Berlin, Germany’s second largest airline, began operating two weekly flights on 2 July between Berlin-Tegel and Ben Gurion Airport with flights on sale from €99 return. Low-cost carrier easyJet, the UK’s largest airline, announced its plans to expand to Israel this winter with the launch of a new six times weekly service, between London Luton and Tel Aviv.
Air Berlin’s two weekly flights, leaving Berlin on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Tel Aviv on Wednesday and Friday mornings, brings to 68 the number of flights to Israel from various cities within Germany, operated by a total of 8 airlines. These cities include Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Berlin, with 14 weekly scheduled and charter flights departing from Berlin.
easyJet is the first low-fares airline to operate between London and Tel Aviv, with single tickets selling from £71.98 and return tickets from just £102.98, including taxes (there is an additional charge for baggage). The flights leave daily (except Fridays) from London Luton at 11:30 and from Tel Aviv at 19:25.
Other airlines flying the London-Tel Aviv route include El Al with 2-3 flights daily from Heathrow and a daily flight from Luton and British Airways and bmi with two daily flights each from Heathrow. In addition, Jet2.com launched its weekly flight from Manchester in May and has already announced plans to increase to two flights a week in peak periods. Isrotel Hotels recently announced their own direct charter flights from Luton to Eilat, with 14 flights from December 2009 – April 2010.