Arkia, Israel’s internal airline which mainly serves Eilat from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, may be allowed to operate charter flights between Eilat and Europe, as a way of getting around the airline’s demand for higher fares on its local flights.
Finance Minister Yoram Aridor and Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Gideon Patt yesterday instructed the Transport Ministry’s Director General, Arye Grossbard, to investigate the charter flight issue. Arkia spokesmen said that if they are allowed to operate charter flights to Europe, they would chose routes which do not compete with the regular or charter flights run by EI AI but would instead compete with foreign charter companies flying to Israel.
Arkia plans to operate new Boeing 737 jets on its new routes if permission is granted.
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