Israir Group has acknowledged an approach from fellow Israeli leisure operator Arkia regarding a potential tie-up between the two airlines.
It has not given details of any proposal, and points out that the contact is preliminary.
Israir Group states that it examines applications for “various business opportunities” from companies and entities “from time to time”.
It adds that, should any of these progress to the stage of advanced negotiations, it will provide further information.
Israeli flag-carrier El Al had previously entered talks with Arkia two years ago regarding the possibility of taking over the holiday airline.
El Al had considered acquiring Arkia to turn it into a subsidiary operator.
But an exclusivity period for the discussions did not yield a formal proposal.
Arkia is controlled by the Nakash brothers. Like Israir it operates Airbus single-aisle jets, and also has a small fleet of Embraer 195s.
Three years ago Arkia had participated in an auction for Israir which, at the time, was being sold as part of a restructuring of its parent company.
Arkia had sought to pursue Israir through a merger, stating that a tie-up offered an opportunity to consolidate the Israeli aviation sector which was under pressure from increasing foreign competition.
Israir was ultimately acquired by Israeli firm BGI Investments, under which it has been exploring a takeover of Czech carrier Smartwings.
El Al has also previously attempted an Israir merger, with a view to combining it will its Sun D’Or charter division, but the flag-carrier’s tie-up proposal was eventually rejected by Israeli competition regulators.
