The first El Al flight to Dublin took off on Thursday. The launch came a few weeks after El Al launched the line to Tokyo, the first that the company has launched since 2019. Also, Israeli airline Arkia announced that it will soon launch a direct flight to Cape Town, South Africa.
El Al will operate three direct weekly flights to Dublin and expects a significant increase in passenger traffic between Israel and Ireland, for both tourists and businesspeople.
El Al said the direct flight to Dublin will shorten the flight time to the city to just five and a half hours. Until now, the flight to Dublin took at least up to nine hours, in an indirect flight.
A celebratory ceremony for the launch was held in El Al’s ‘King David’ lounge, in the presence of the Minister of Transportation Miri Regev, the Irish Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Kyle O’Sullivan, the manager Udi Bar Oz, and the CEO of El Al, Dina Ben Tal Gnansia.
Minister Regev said: “I congratulate El Al and the Honorable Irish Ambassador for opening the new route, and I am sure that the direct flights will contribute to strengthening the economic, cultural, tourism and academic ties between the nations, and to improving the relationship between the governments.”
Regev also announced that no fewer than 13 new airlines will begin flights to Israel this summer, which will “open dozens of new destinations for Israeli vacationers, and bring more tourists from places that so far have not enjoyed direct flights to Israel.”