Israel’s newest airline is launching service from its base in the northern city of Haifa this month in the wake of the ceasefire with Lebanon.
Air Haifa will offer flights to the Red Sea resort city of Eilat as well as to Larnaca in Cyprus starting on Dec. 22, following the lifting of restrictions on flying in northern Israel.
“Because of the ceasefire agreement, most of the restrictions on flightpaths in Israel have been removed, including on flightpaths to Haifa Airport,” the Israel Airports Authority said in a statement. “The airport is returning to operations on a format similar to the situation before the war.”
The low-cost airline, Israel’s first new carrier since the 1990s, started operations on Sept. 30, but due to the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon it had to temporarily reroute flights to Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv.
Travel experts had said that an airline servicing the north could be economically viable when the war ends.
The Nov. 27 ceasefire with Lebanon has led several foreign airlines to announce the renewal of service to Israel, with others expected to follow suit next month as quiet holds and security conditions improve.
Azerbaijan Airlines restarted its Tel Aviv-Baku route last month; Greece’s national airline, Aegean Airlines, announced it will restart flights to Israel on Dec. 10; Air Europa will offer service to and from Tel Aviv from Dec. 18 and Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air will gradually resume operations in Israel starting on Dec. 20.
The three US legacy carriers are still not flying to Tel Aviv, and have not yet announced a resumption of service to Israel since the ceasefire went in effect last week. Lufthansa on Monday extended its suspension of flights to Israel through Jan. 31.
Northern carrier
The small Haifa airport, which is located at the eastern entrance to the city, was established by the British at the RAF Haifa base in 1934. It was the first international airport in Israel, followed by the construction of Lydda Airport (eventually renamed Ben-Gurion International Airport) that same year.
With it sole runway only 4,324-feet long, limiting plane size and range of destinations, the Haifa airport has seen limited service.
The new Haifa-based airline will operate three fuel-efficient ATR 72-600 propeller planes to service the Haifa runway.
Air Haifa was founded last year by a team of entrepreneurial Israeli aviation professionals, led by the American-Israeli founder of cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks, Nir Zuk, together with former senior executives of the Jewish state’s flagship carrier, El Al Israel Airlines.