In great news for Aussie travelers Victorians should be soon able to fly on the first ever direct flights between Australia and Israel with EL Al singing a letter of intent (LOI) with the Victorian State Government to launch a direct service to Tel Aviv by June next year.
The LOI signals that the airline is likely to launch a thrice weekly service to Melbourne operated by its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft which will deliver an annual 44,000 seats on the route and also help set Melbourne as the airline’s hub for passengers travelling elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand.
The airline’s intentions to launch the route are actually not new with the airline ordinally weighing up to launch the service in 2019 and had even conducted several test flights to weigh the viability of the route but these plans never ultimately came to fruition with the outbreak of Covid to scuttle those plans. Looking forward however and the opening of Saudi and Omani airspace to Israeli carriers the route has now become more viable for the airline with the estimated flight time believed to be around 15 hours eastbound or 17 hours westbound.
In making the announcement EL AL Israel Airlines CEO Dina Ben Tal Ganancia said “We look forward to launching our first ever non-stop flights to Melbourne as we position Victoria as Israel’s gateway to Australia. We thank the Victorian Government for its support.”
Last week Victoria’s Minister for Industry and Innovation Ben Carroll adjoined by EL AL CEO Dina Ben Tal Ganancia in Tel Aviv yesterday as they signed a Letter of Intent between the Victorian Government and the airline to work together to secure nonstop Tel Aviv to Melbourne flights by June 2024. The Victorian Government believes the flights will deliver a $48 million annual boost to the state’s economy and create an estimated 155 jobs in aviation and tourism.
Ben Caroll noted “We’re partnering with EL AL, Israel’s national airline, to back direct flights between Melbourne and Tel Aviv to strengthen business connections and create jobs locally.”
“More international flights to such an important trading partner will power our economy and boost our status as a key destination for tourism, trade and investment.”
