AVIATION
A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE AIRPORT AUTHORITY’S INCOME FROM CROSSING FEES IN ISRAELI SKIES In the past year, there was a rapid recovery from the COVID-19 epidemic and an increase in the number of international flights in Israeli airspace. Accordingly, the revenues of the Airports Authority from crossing fees in the airspace also increased significantly. The winners as expected: Royal Jordanian and Emirates.
W arming up in tourist relations between Israel and Slovakia: starting with the upcoming summer flight schedule, direct flights will be operated from Tel Aviv to several destinations in Slovakia. Starting in April, the travel company Ophir Tours will operate direct flights to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The flights will be operated between the dates 07.06-04.10.2023 on Wednesdays with Cyprus Airways. The flights will land at the Bratislava airport (BTS) and will last about 3.5 hours. All Ofir Tours flights include baggage of 23 kg and hand luggage weighing 8 kg are included in the ticket price. In addition to direct flights, Ofir Tours will offer organized trips in combination with a trip to nearby Austria, holiday packages. Until today, arriving in Bratislava was mainly possible by flying to Vienna in Austria and traveling by car, and from now on a direct flight will be possible. From now on it will also be possible to fly directly to Bratislava and combine a trip in the region, including Austria. In addition, the Genesis tourism company will operate direct flights to the town of Pishtani, which is located in the Ternava district of Slovakia, starting this April. The town is considered a sought-after spa destination that offers a relatively high-quality experience at a cheap price, a significant advantage in an era where prices for tourists in Europe continue to rise. Initially, one weekly flight from Tel Aviv will be operated, with an option for additional flights in the future. DIRECT FLIGHTS TO NEW DESTINATIONS IN SLOVAKIA
I t appears that in 2022 the Airports Authority (RAS) almost doubled its income from fees collected from airlines that cross the skies of Israel without landing there (“flight control fee for crossing the airspace”). A total of 6.396 million dollars were paid by the foreign airlines to the RAS last year, compared to the following amounts in the previous years: 2019 – $3,443,068, 2020 – $1,097,985, 2021 – $3,334,349. First place went to the Royal Jordanian airline which is traditionally considered to be the highest paying toll in question due to its need to cross Israel on a large part of its flights to the west. In 2022 alone, Royal Jordanian paid the RAS an amount of 1.696 million dollars, almost 26% of the total amount. This is when between the years 2019-2021 the Jordanian airline paid a total of about 2.8 million dollars. In second place came the Emirates company, which paid an amount of 1.464 million dollars for this fee alone, an increase of hundreds of percent from the year 2021, which amounted to revenues of only 290 thousand dollars from the Emirates airline. It is interesting to see that in the numbers of January 2023 alone, Emirates overtook Royal Jordanian and paid
the RAS an amount of 160 thousand dollars, compared to 127 thousand dollars paid by the Jordanian company. It is difficult to say at this stage whether the trend will continue and Emirates will be the highest in fees even in the 2023 summary, but there is no doubt that this is a new and significant revenue channel for Israel. Every airline that crosses Israeli airspace pays an air control fee to the airport authority. An agreement between the State of Israel and Jordan allows foreign airlines to fly in the airspace of both countries. The fee is determined by the maximum take-off weight of the aircraft. Due to the nature of Emirates’ fleet which consists only of 777 and A380 aircraft it will always pay the highest fee which as of 2023 is $307.85 per flight. This is when a typical fee for aircraft smaller than the 737 or A320 models will be about $142.
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