The airline plans to provide cost-effective air travel options from Haifa Airport (HFA), located in northern Israel, approximately 60 miles from Tel Aviv. Air Haifa was established in March 2023 and enjoys support from Nir Zuk, the founder of the U.S.-based cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks. Notable figures in the airline's leadership include former El Al Israel Airlines CEO Gonen Ussishkin.
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GLOAir Haifa, an Israeli startup, is set to focus on serving leisure routes, primarily targeting destinations in Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey, as well as offering domestic flights to Eilat, a Red Sea resort town. The airline plans to provide cost-effective air travel options from Haifa Airport (HFA), located in northern Israel, approximately 60 miles from Tel Aviv.
Israel’s Transportation Minister, Miri Regev, recently granted a business license to the new airline, which is now in the process of obtaining an air operator’s certificate from Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority. Air Haifa aims to commence its flights in the second half of 2024.
According to a statement from Air Haifa, their planned operations hold great promise for the residents of the northern region and Eilat. Direct flights from Haifa are expected to stimulate economic development in the northern region, create job opportunities, boost incoming tourism, and provide convenient access to Eilat from Israel’s third-largest metropolitan area.
Air Haifa was established in March 2023 and enjoys support from Nir Zuk, the founder of the U.S.-based cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks. Notable figures in the airline’s leadership include former El Al Israel Airlines CEO Gonen Ussishkin.
Currently, there are no scheduled flights operating from HFA, as indicated by data from OAG Schedules Analyser. Israir was the last airline to offer regular scheduled flights from HFA to Eilat and Larnaca in Cyprus, but these services ceased during the onset of the pandemic in 2020. However, charter services to Larnaca resumed in June 2023, operated by Universal Air using De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100s.
The relatively short runway at HFA, measuring 4,324 feet in length, imposes restrictions on the types of aircraft and destinations that airlines can serve from the airport. Therefore, Air Haifa is expected to operate a fleet of smaller turboprop aircraft.
