THE Israeli Airport Authority (IAA) gave approval to several companies to increase flight frequencies last year and two companies have started airfreight services service to and from Israel, according to Port2Port, Israel's trade portal.
A recent IAA study shows that fierce competition will be increasingly felt this year and next. Not only would there be an increase in flight frequencies of foreign airlines, which contributes to the competition, there would also be a greater use of wide body jets which carry more passengers and cargo.
Air France, Austrian Airlines, Iberia, Continental and Trans Airo received IAA's approval in 2006 to increase flight frequencies. Additional factors identified by the study included an increase in the number of foreign airlines flying to Israel.
Three new companies began schedule air services to Israel: Delta, which inaugurated a direct flight from Atlanta, Hapag Fly and Air Baltic from Latvia. Royal Jordanian and Korean Air have also started cargo operations.
The study also noted that in 2006 El Al did not increase its capacity compared to 2005, thus reducing its overall market share. The same applies to the cargo sector where the combined market share of El Al and Israel's cargo carrier CAL in 2006 was 67.2 per cent compared to 68.7 per cent a year earlier.
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