El Al will operate domestic flights to Eilat from Ben-Gurion Airport to Ramon Airport

El Al, controlled by Eli Rosenberg, will operate domestic flights to Eilat from Ben-Gurion Airport to Ramon Airport at the end of the current closure. The flights will take place temporarily, subject to the receipt of the relevant permits, and provided there is a reopening of the Green Islands.
So far, only two companies have operated on the line to Eilat, Israir and Arkia, and in a significant part of the corona crisis, Israir has operated alone. The line to Eilat has suffered from a decrease in traffic since the closure of Sde Dov in north Tel Aviv in July 2019 and the closure of the airport in Eilat in March 2019 and its transfer to Ramon Airport - 18 km north of the city.
Israir, which was owned by IDB Pituach, reported a 43% decrease in the number of flights to Eilat in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019. In addition, it reported a 49% decrease in its revenues in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019 from this line to NIS 15.4 million. The company also reported a 92% drop in the company's gross profit on the line to Eilat in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the corresponding quarter in 2019 to a level of NIS 400,000 which is 3% of turnover compared to 18% of the corresponding turnover in 2019.
The announcement of the start of flights to Eilat was made in the vicinity of a decision by the management of El Al to stop the flights on Saturday of the subsidiary Sun-Dor. To date, the company has operated charter flights and scheduled flights by selling the aircraft capacity to charter flight organizers.
Sun-Dor flew mainly to holiday destinations in the middle basin and effectively circumvented the voluntary ban imposed on the previous controlling shareholders of El Al - Wings Company (-1.93% 903) controlled by Tami Mozes Borowitz - not to fly on Saturday, closing the eyes of its religious and traditional customers. The current controlling shareholders, who are close to Rabbi Pinchas Abu Hatzira, have decided to stop activities on Saturday in a way that is expected to further reduce El Al's ability to compete at Ben Gurion Airport, which is expected to be overcome after the corona crisis.