New British Midland London-Tel Aviv route brings lower prices

Airfares have dropped on the London to Tel Aviv route, thanks in large part to British Midland’s (bmi) decision to launch regular flights between the UK and Israeli capitals. Until earlier this month, British Airways and El Al, Israel’s flag carrier, enjoyed a complete monopoly over this route, which for over four decades helped maintain high prices and a relatively scarcity of seats. Almost immediately after the launch of bmi’s first flights, British Airways indicated that it would be offering discounted fares on its own airfares, while El Al confirmed that it would begin flying Boeing 777 aircraft in order to make available a larger number of seats. As such, it appears as though ordinary passengers stand to benefit from bmi’s new flights, whether or not they choose to fly with this airline.

Bmi’s CEO, Nigel Turner, pointed out that Israel has not been traditionally a popular tourist destination among non-Jewish Britons. While part of this is due to the lack of reasonably priced air tickets, as well as seats, another important factor is that Israeli politics are often portrayed in a negative light by the British media. As an example of how few Britons travel to Israel, Turner noted that he, in fact, has never been there and cannot point to any friends or acquaintances who have travelled to this Middle Eastern country either. Yet the creation of this new bmi route and cheaper tickets may just begin to remedy this situation in the near future. Turner believes that Israel has great potential to become an ideal vacation destination for Britons looking to spend long-weekends abroad.

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