Summary
- EL AL Israel Airlines has suspended flights to Dublin and Marrakesh as a consequence of low demand.
- The cancellation of those routes allows EL AL to redeploy capability to other destinations.
- EL AL has also suspended flights to Johannesburg, South Africa, as a consequence of low demand.
The Irish and Moroccan destinations of Dublin (DUB) and Marrakesh (RAK) have turn out to be the most recent to be faraway from the route network of EL AL Israel Airlines. The Israeli flag carrier was scheduled to resume seasonal operations on these corridors from Tel Aviv (TLV) later this 12 months, but low demand has put a halt to this.
Previously trying to construct upon last 12 months
While Dublin and Marrakesh were never EL AL’s busiest routes, data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that they still played a key role in last 12 months’s seasonal traffic. Indeed, the Israeli flag carrier had 89 flights scheduled to serve the Irish capital from Tel Aviv between March and October of last 12 months.
EL AL planned an analogous offering for Dublin this 12 months, with 84 flights scheduled within the period from March to October of 2024. Marrakesh was much more popular, with 190 flights scheduled in 2023 when the route from Tel Aviv operated all 12 months round. Even with it only being seasonal in 2024, 130 rotations were still planned.
Photo: Gail Hanusa | Boeing
Nonetheless, as reported yesterday by Airways Magazine, EL AL has now announced that its flights on these routes could be suspended, citing low demand as a contributing factor. Ireland and Morocco have also been vocal of their opposition to Israel’s ongoing military motion against Palestinians in Gaza.
Capability to be redeployed elsewhere
EL AL’s planned flights from Tel Aviv to Dublin and Marrakesh this 12 months were set to make use of aircraft from the Boeing 737 family, offering 13,944 and 22,525 seats on these routes respectively. As such, their cancellations offer considerable scope for the redeployment of this capability, with i24NEWS quoting EL AL as stating that:
“We proceed to regulate the flight schedule based on demand. From the start of April 2024 and throughout the subsequent summer season, we won’t resume our routes to Dublin and Marrakech, as a consequence of the present security situation and the numerous drop in demand. This can allow the addition of lots of of flights to destinations already offered and wanted.”
Flight Review: EL AL Tel Aviv To Rome In Economy On A Boeing 737-800
Easy Flying had the prospect to examine out this short-haul narrowbody flight.
Photo: BSG_1974 | Shutterstock
As is commonly the case in such instances, the continuing Israel-Hamas conflict has prompted many airlines to regulate their route networks in response to the safety situation. Being the flag carrier of Israel, EL AL has needed to be especially dynamic on this regard, as Easy Flying explored in an article published in December.
South African flights have also been shelved
Because it happens, Ireland and Morocco aren’t the one countries whose EL AL flights have been cut in recent weeks. Indeed, the Israeli flag carrier has also suspended its services to Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) in South Africa, once more citing low demand. You’ll be able to read more on the matter in our article here.
What do you make of those suspensions? Have you ever ever flown with EL AL on considered one of the routes involved? Tell us your thoughts and experiences within the comments!