Originally Posted by
easyflyer83
.... and a large proportion of the Jewish community dislike El Al for a couple of specific reasons.
Two reasons why El Al aren't in Manchester - probably connected...
1. For only two flights a week they will need to bring in their dedicated security staff, rather than being based in Manchester. This will mean either bringing them up from London for each flight, or bringing them on the flight from Tel Aviv. If the former, the cost is high; if the latter two revenue seats are wasted, especially on a smaller capacity frame like a 737. This therefore increases costs....leading to: -
2. Whilst many people will pay a higher price for a non-stop, direct flight which includes kosher food, luggage and additional security, there is a limit to the premium that they will pay. They may price themselves out of the market.
By way of example, I fly to TLV several times a year. My choices are EZY or changing in LHR, CDG, FRA, ZRH, BRU or AMS, as well as with Turkish but for political reasons they are not my airline of choice... With several family members on one booking, a saving of £100 per person going via Europe pays for the car hire during the trip. Some journeys only add about 90 minutes to the flight time and flight every day (not just two days a week) and at more convenient times. So, I will fly EZY, but the increased cost (and it almost always more expensive to fly with EZY) has to reflect the benefit to me.
Further, EL AL used to fly a route which stopped in Europe, as at the time the load factor was too low for a direct, non-stop service TLV-MAN-TLV. It was a pain to be stuck on the 'plane for over an hour going nowhere.
So I think it unlikely that EL AL will come back to MAN unless it is their lo-cost brand and even then it will be very difficult to compete with the very efficient EZY.