$1,600 to Amsterdam: Foreign companies return to Ben Gurion Airport, prices are not yet dropping

Last Thursday, about 101,000 passengers passed through Ben Gurion Airport, marking the busiest day at the airport since the beginning of the summer. In general, about 2.6 million passengers are expected to pass through Ben Gurion Airport throughout August, and further records may be broken later this month. Alongside the good news on the demand side, there is also good news on the supply side: a blitz of foreign airlines that announced their return to Israel last week, joining those that have resumed flying in the country's skies in recent months.

For example, last weekend the Swiss company SWISS returned, after leaving following Operation Iron Swords. The company, part of the Lufthansa Group, is returning to operate a daily flight on the Zurich-Tel Aviv line with an A330 aircraft. At the same time, at the beginning of the week, the German airline Condor - represented by the Tal Aviation group - completed its launch flight from Frankfurt to Tel Aviv. The German company is returning to Israel after 70 years, and the new line will operate on a daily frequency.

This week, Brussels Airlines also returned - the Belgian company will operate 54 weekly lines from Tel Aviv to Europe. In addition, at the end of the week, the Dutch airline KLM announced that it would return to Israel on August 25. The Romanian airline AnimaWings also returned to Israel this week and will begin operating three weekly flights on the Bucharest-Tel Aviv line. It also joins the American companies United and Delta, which are expected to return to Israel in early September.

All of these also join companies that have increased their activity in Israel in recent months, such as Ethiopian Airlines and Etihad Airways. Bottom line, more than 50 companies are expected to operate in Israel next month.

Returning in the summer, eyeing the winter

Although we are still in the peak of summer, the airlines that are now returning to Israel are also looking around the corner to the winter. "The third quarter is the bread and butter of airlines, but as we enter September, they start to see a decline in demand," explains Dr. Uzi Freund-Feinstein, an aviation expert and senior official in the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management at Kinneret Academic College. "But despite the decline in demand, you still need to fill the supply and the planes."

According to Dr. Freund-Feinstein, the companies are also looking towards next summer. "To be here, they need to create a presence already in the winter and be in the consciousness of Israelis. Many of the summer purchases are made in the winter, and those who enter late will not maximize their potential," he explains.

Prominent companies that have returned and those on the way

• SWISS: Active, 7 weekly flights to Zurich.

• Brussels Airlines: Active, 54 weekly flights to Europe.

• KLM: Return August 25, 7 weekly flights to Amsterdam.

• United Airlines: Return September 8, 14 weekly flights to New York.

• Delta: Return early September, 7 weekly flights to New York.

And what about the war? Are they not afraid it will start again?

"The companies look at the general situation, examine the regulator's travel warnings, and perform risk assessments. There are companies, like Ryanair for example, that are not willing to touch Israel with a stick, but many companies also look at the situation, see that there are no unusual warnings, and that everything here is operating as usual."

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"Releases a huge amount of seats"

And how will this tsunami of companies affect us? According to the Ofakim tourism group, the massive return of airlines will be felt in our pockets in several stages: the first - maintaining existing prices with a slight decrease, and the second - an impact on prices in the long term. This can be seen in the prices offered, for example, by United Airlines, which is returning to operation with attractive entry prices due to the need to fill the planes. In the first stage, round-trip tickets to New York in economy are offered at $1,550. After that, the prices are similar to those of the Israeli companies, and in the long term, as mentioned, a decrease is expected due to competition.

"The name of the game is to create options," notes Revital Ben Natan, CEO of the Ofakim tourism group. "Recently, an aviation bottleneck has been created, when there is huge demand from people who want to fly, but there are not enough seats on the flights of the operating companies, which also raises prices.

Now, as the skies open up again, naturally, we expect every seat in an international company to be snapped up quickly, so in the immediate term, prices will likely be maintained or drop only slightly."

But what will happen in the long term? "If the trend continues and additional companies enter as we see happening now, we will definitely feel it in our pockets as well, by the very economic law of supply and demand," emphasizes Ben Natan.

According to the travel-tech company lastminute.co.il, on the dates September 10-14 (Rosh Hashanah), the average round-trip price to Amsterdam, with KLM, stands at $1,643. To Brussels, with Brussels Airlines, you will pay an average of $735. A flight to Zurich, with SWISS, stands at an average price of $1,170, and to Frankfurt, with Condor, you will pay an average of $980.

Will Ben Gurion Airport handle the load?

Last month, the CEO of the Israel Airports Authority, Sharon Kedmi, warned that Ben Gurion Airport is at the edge of its capacity due to the presence of American refuelers. Some of them have already left Israel, in what is expected to slightly release the congestion.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics data from last year, about 9.42 million departures of Israelis abroad were recorded. For comparison, in 2019, the peak year of Israeli aviation, about 9.9 million departures of Israelis abroad were recorded.

"If something dramatic does not happen in terms of security - I predict that we will approach the figures of 2025. Israelis are not afraid - just yesterday we woke up to news about the protests in Greece and people continue to fly," emphasizes Yehuda Zafrani, an expert on tourism and international aviation at the Hot consumer club.

In the last week, the average delay in flights departing from Ben Gurion Airport stood at one hour, one of the highest figures this year. The leading companies in delays: Red Wings Airlines (214 minutes on average), TUS Airways (112 minutes), and Blue Bird (108 minutes). On the other hand, the most punctual companies were Etihad (20 minutes on average) and Flydubai (21 minutes).