El Al unveils rescue flight fares

El Al has published fares for rescue flights to Israel from more than 20 cities around the world after completing the reallocation of tickets to passengers whose flights were canceled. The airline said care has been taken “To return Israelis home while maintaining fares that are the lowest rescue prices in Israel in the near future.”

The special price list sets uniform fares for each destination, and opened for sale to the general public yesterday on the company’s website and through travel agents. All available seats on each flight are being sold at the same price without being divided into different price classes as is customary on regular flights. In this, El Al joins Israir, Arkia, and Air Haifa, which have opened ticket sales to the general public.

Why do small airlines offer more expensive tickets?

Anyone trying to purchase a one-way ticket is discovering that the fares are especially high, sometimes as much as double those sold during regular times. When it comes to a one-way ticket, the expectation is not to receive the usual prices, because flying is currently a rare commodity that should be priced accordingly, but many Israelis complain that the airlines are taking advantage of the situation.

Moreover, tickets are much cheaper on El Al than Israeli rivals. For example a one way El Al ticket on a rescue flight from Larnaca to Tel Aviv is $99 compared with $293 (Arkia), $290 (Israir) and $299 (Air Haifa). A one way El Al ticket on a rescue flight from Athens is $149 but $391 (Arkia), $425 (Israir) and $399 (Air Haifa). A one way El Al ticket on a rescue flight from Rome is $199 but $489 (Arkia), $445 (Israir).

Airlines, especially the smaller ones, respond to these claims by saying that they do not have “deep pockets” like El Al, and that they are also being hit hard by the war. All the companies claim that the fares currently charged are actually unprofitable in relation to expenses, because they cannot operate their entire fleet of aircraft at this time. With the skies over Israel still not allowing full operation, some of the companies’ aircraft remain on the ground, a situation that entails heavy costs for the airlines. Added to this are insurance prices, the costs of jet fuel that have risen since the outbreak of the war, and the need to extend flight routes in the air, either due to the closure of airspace or due to rocket launches that force the companies to wait in the air until landing after alerts are over.

And what about the foreign airlines?

At this stage, foreign airlines are still not landing at Ben Gurion Airport. The Emirates unit flyDubai and Etihad are considering a return to Israel, and flyDubai even planned to return on Sunday, but postponed the resumption due to shrapnel hitting the airport in Dubai.

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At the same time three foreign carriers are providing flights for Israelis via Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh in Sinai, thus joining Arkia, which continues to fly Israelis through Egypt. BlueBird Airways and TUS Airways operate flights to Taba, while Wizz Air operates flights to Sharm el-Sheikh. These are routes that the company operates regularly, but it has now expanded the scope of its operations to allow Israelis to return to the region and enter Israel via the Taba border crossing near Eilat.

According to Israel’s National Security Council, the recommendation is to reduce the length of stay in Egypt as much as possible, and therefore reaching Israel via Sharm, which is further away from the border crossing than Taba, is not recommended.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on March 9, 2026.

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