El Al sees recovery as borders start to open

Israeli airline El Al reported a narrower loss in the third quarter and said it expected further improvement in the final three months of the year after Israel started to open its borders to foreign tourists. El Al, Israel’s flag carrier, was hurt badly by the COVID-19 pandemic. It said it lost a net $136.2m in the July-September period that is typically its strongest, compared with a $146.6m loss a year earlier. Revenue jumped to $253m from $39.2m a year ago, when borders were largely shut. The airline’s bottom line was impacted by a write down of $43m for the value of aircraft taken out of service. Seat occupancy rose to 71.4% from 23.1% a year ago and 67.3% in Q2. Typically its load factor reaches around 83%. El Al said sales for the fourth quarter will be higher in the wake of the government’s approval for tourists vaccinated within the prior six months to enter Israel as on November 1. That “will reflect the recovery trend and a gradual return to the company’s operations,” El Al said. It said it expects “continued positive momentum in the industry and activity throughout 2022” spurred by stronger transatlantic travel, the easing of Israeli entry rules and rollouts of COVID-19 vaccinations for children and booster shots for adults. Israel had closed its borders in March 2020 at the outset of the pandemic.<br/>