EL AL is to wet-lease two widebody aircraft as it attempts to boost its share of the Tel Aviv-New York market to 60%.
The Israeli flag carrier has leased a Boeing MD-11 from World Airways and is negotiating the lease of a Boeing 747-300 as it implements a plan for 23 weekly flights.
Last year, El Al's market share slipped to 40%, although it maintained the lion's share of the route, with Tower Air, at 20%, the next largest, followed by TWA and Continental. Indirect services through Canada and Europe also serve the market. The route is used by 800,000 passengers and it is growing at 8% a year.
Last year, Tower withdrew from the route.
Source: Flight International
