El Al Israel Airlines is setting its sights on new routes with plans to add three long-haul destinations to its network, including Manila in the Philippines, Seattle in the USA, and Melbourne in Australia. These new routes are part of El Al’s ambitious goal to increase passenger numbers by 50% to 7.7 million over the next five years.
Connecting Israel with the World
U.S. Connections
Currently, El Al operates flights to five U.S. destinations, connecting Tel Aviv Ben Gurion with Boston Logan, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New Jersey, and New York John F. Kennedy airports. The airline is also planning to start weekly flights to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in September.
If the planned Seattle service goes ahead, it will be the first nonstop link between the U.S. West Coast city and Israel. Data from 2019 shows that around 36,400 passengers traveled between Tel Aviv and Seattle, with San Francisco being the largest one-stop market.
Asia-Pacific Growth
El Al’s plans in the Asia-Pacific region have been boosted by Saudi Arabia’s decision to open its airspace to all air carriers, allowing overflights to and from Israel. Oman has followed suit, enabling Israeli carriers to use a Saudi-Oman corridor. This change is expected to reduce flight time to destinations in Asia by up to two hours.
El Al commenced flights to Tokyo Narita in March 2023 and will add New Delhi to its network in October, along with resuming service to Mumbai, India. If the routes to Manila and Melbourne are launched, they will be the only nonstop flights between Israel and the Philippines and Israel and Australia, respectively. The Tel Aviv-Melbourne route would also become the farthest in El Al’s network at 8,538 miles.
In the past, Philippine Airlines had announced plans to serve Tel Aviv starting April 2022, but as of September 2022, this route is still under evaluation.
Australia’s Potential
El Al has been considering operations to Australia for some time. In March, Israel’s national carrier signed a letter of intent with the Victorian state government to start a Melbourne service by June 2024, offering three roundtrips per week. This move would add 44,000 seats annually to Melbourne’s market and is forecasted to bring a $31 million boost to Victoria’s economy.
The Victoria government believes a direct service would strengthen trade links and support the international education sector, as about 45% of Israeli students studying in Australia were enrolled in Victorian institutions in 2019.
Short-Haul Leisure and Fleet Expansion
In addition to the long-haul plans, El Al’s subsidiary Sun d’Or will open seasonal routes to several European destinations during the fourth quarter of 2023. Flights to Istanbul, Porto, Naples, and Zagreb are also in the works.
El Al’s fleet is growing too. The airline has 47 aircraft and carried 5.2 million passengers in the past 12 months. It plans to grow its Boeing 787 widebody fleet from 16 to 22 aircraft by 2028, and its narrowbody 737 fleet will rise from 24 to between 28 and 31.
El Al’s plan to expand to Manila is great news, opening a direct link between the Philippines and Israel. But I’m also hoping that PAL will follow through with their direct flights to Tel Aviv. With many Filipino Catholics eager to visit the Holy Land and lots of OFWs traveling between the two countries, these connections could make a big difference.
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