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World Jewish News
Crisis Reduces Number of Airline Passengers From CIS to Israel
26.12.2008
Dismissals and wage reductions prevent Russians from traveling abroad. Planes from Minsk fly along the "red line." Kiev direction of El Al sustains losses because of this new competitor. Will this reduce the ticket prices for the consumer?
Will the Eilat tragedy influence the number of Russians wishing to come to Israel? The IzRus portal addressed this question to the Head of El Al Eastern European department Igor Vaysburd. In his opinion, the dramatic event that occurred in southern Israel will not considerably affect the tourist aspirations of Russians. "The economic situation, the crisis, is more influential." Nevertheless, as the representative of the airline put it, the tragedy of December 16 "did not contribute to advertising flights to Eilat."
It should be noted that the deaths of tour operators from the "northern capital" of Russia took place in the very days when El Al was preparing to resume the flights to St. Petersburg after many months of inactivity. They were scheduled to start on December 23. As reported by the IzRus portal, El Al tried to make it in time for the New Year trips of Russians and Israelis. The bus crash near Eilat indirectly hurt the airline's plans as well. Igor Vaysburd said that the reduction in the numbers of passengers "has been felt not only by El Al, but by the entire industry."
El Al is holding consultations on the current situation with Russian colleagues from Transaero and Pulkovo Airlines. "Recession is everywhere," - says Vaysburd. The Israelis have already performed a number of flights to Minsk with BelAvia. So far the flights have "not been very successful, with a small workload, along the red line." The airline between Belarus and Israel is not losing money, but is not earning much either. There is an additional disadvantage in winter, which is the "weak" tourist season.
Ukrainian "Aerosvit" provides a lot of aircrafts for lease and half of its staff has been urged to take a leave. "When wages are reduced by 50 percent and employment lay-offs are underway, this influences the people heavily - they are not in a position to travel abroad", - believes the El Al representative.
It is interesting to report that Aerosvit in its search for new ways of earning money is trying to intercept Russian consumers on flights from Moscow to Tel Aviv. Passengers are offered tickets for Moscow-Kiev-Tel Aviv flights with transfer in the Boryspil airport which cost less than a ticket from Kiev to Israel.
After the Minister of Transport Shaul Mofaz allowed the Arkia company to perform direct flights to Kiev, the route has become crowded. The IzRus portal reflects the Minister's opinion that demonopolization of the airline market leads to cheaper tickets.
Igor Vaysburd's comment on the appearance of an Israeli competitor in the Ukrainian direction follows: "The El Al company is not delighted at the fact that more carriers are entering such a small market." On the other hand, this obliges to raise the level of service. "This will benefit the passengers - lower prices and higher quality will show the difference between our flights and charters. This is our main objective," - said a high-ranking official at El Al.
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