Israel’s Knafaim Holdings has yet to commence operations with its new line maintenance joint venture with Nayak Group, after the Gaza conflict forced a postponement.
The two sides had expected the Israeli venture, aimed at providing maintenance services to international airlines at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport, to start in the fourth quarter of last year.
But Knafaim states that the conflict, which broke out in October 2023, and its impact – particularly on activity levels of foreign companies in Ben Gurion – has led to a delay.
“[Knafaim] and Nayak are advancing the necessary steps to establish the project and start operations,” says the company in a full-year financial briefing, adding that this will depend on a “more significant” resumption of foreign operations at the airport.
The company states that there has been a “trend of demand recovery” evidence since the beginning of the year, although a number of carriers have yet to restore flights or reach pre-conflict frequency levels.
Nayak Group provides line maintenance at around 50 airports in Europe. The venture could expand to include additional Israeli airports.
Knafaim has several aviation interests, including a small share in El Al, and the conflict has led to mixed results – it says its aircraft leasing division, and its military aircraft maintenance arm, have not been affected, but there has been an impact on its Cypriot airline Tus Airways and its ground-handler QAS.
