Dominant over 18 months of war, Israel's El Al faces return of foreign carriers

Just a few years after coming close to bankruptcy, Israel's El Al Airlines became dominant in the country's aviation sector thanks to its near monopoly status during 18 months of war. Now, its challenge is to sustain that position. Following a ceasefire deal with Palestinian militant group Hamas in January, foreign carriers have begun to resume flights to Israel after halting them for much of the last year and a half, although with less capacity and frequency. But it could take time to earn the trust of travellers fearful of cancellations should the ceasefire collapse, which means Israel's flag carrier and its smaller rivals Arkia and Israir - hope to see the benefits for longer. El Al believes that even as foreign airlines slowly resume their flights, it will be able to compete by appealing to customers as "the Spirit of Israel". To that end it expects to receive five more 787s, while retrofitting older Boeing 777s. It also recently ordered 737Max aircraft to replace its short-haul fleet. "The tipping point for me is that with El Al, I know I'll get home," said Gary Sugarman-Sagiv, 60, CE of Israeli medical technology startup Motion Informatics, a frequent traveller who thought El Al was a "terrible" airline until its ownership change in 2021.<br/>