Israeli flag carrier El Al is to begin services from Tel Aviv to Dublin next spring. Flights will operate three times per week, and will be flown by the Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
The first flight between Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) and Dublin Airport (DUB) is planned for March 26th, 2023, with flights operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays thereafter. Timings have yet to be released, and at the time of writing, the flights are not yet bookable on El Al’s website.
El Al had originally intended to launch flights to Dublin in May 2020, but these plans were put on hold as a result of the pandemic. Now, almost three years later, the route will finally be launched.
The managing director of Dublin Airport, Vincent Harrison, welcomed the news, saying,
“The addition of this direct route will open up a new sun destination for Irish travelers and is likely to prove popular also with those seeking to make a pilgrimage journey to the Holy Land. The route will also come as good news to the ever-growing number of Israeli businesses that are present in Ireland. We look forward to the commencement of the new EL AL service from Dublin Airport next spring.”
High demand for a direct connection
Both Dublin and Tel Aviv have strong tech sectors, so the route is likely to prove popular with business travelers, as well as leisure travelers and those visiting friends and relatives (known as VFR traffic). The rationale behind the new route was underlined by El Al’s chief executive, Dina Ben Tal Ganancia, who said,
“A large Israeli community lives in Dublin, mainly high-tech workers who work in international tech companies that are based in Dublin to serve Europe and the Middle East.”
El Al, which recently recorded a profit for the first time since before the pandemic, currently has 15 Boeing 737-800s in its fleet, with a further two on order. Each aircraft seats a total of 166 passengers in a two-class configuration – 16 in business class and 150 in economy class.
The Tel Aviv to Dublin route was last served briefly in 2019 by Arkia Israeli Airlines, which operated a limited number of flights throughout the summer.
Further new routes for El Al and Dublin Airport
In addition to launching flights to Dublin, El Al is also planning to begin services to Tokyo Narita (NRT) next spring. This is another route that was delayed by the pandemic, and from March 1st, 2023, the airline will operate twice-weekly flights to the Japanese capital using its Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Dublin Airport’s post-pandemic recovery has so far been strong. In October this year, over 2.7 million passengers used the airport, which is 94% of the numbers seen in October 2019. This new service to Tel Aviv will help to increase that further, as will the other new route that was announced by the airport earlier this week – twice-weekly flights to Bergen, operated by Norwegian airline Widerøe.
Will you be traveling on El Al between Dublin and Tel Aviv when the route launches next year? Share your plans by commenting below.
Source: simpleflying.com
