Paris 2024El Al CEO: "Flights for sports and music events are an important segment of our operations"
Paris 2024
El Al CEO: "Flights for sports and music events are an important segment of our operations"
"After the pandemic, there was what was called 'revenge travel', but now it’s about traveling to get ‘refreshed and recharge’," said El Al CEO Dina Ben Tal Ganancia in Paris as part of Israel’s Business Delegation led by Calcalist and Bank Hapoalim
"In everything related to the aviation industry, we are in a long period that can be described as a roller coaster," El Al CEO Dina Ben Tal Ganancia said in Paris as part of Israel’s Business Delegation led by Calcalist and Bank Hapoalim. "Two years ago, at the end of the pandemic, we were coming off two very difficult years for the aviation industry. But when the planes stood still, that’s when a recovery began, or as we like to say, a takeoff. We drove a strategic plan forward and every last one of our planes was used. Then the war happened. We found ourselves for a long period carrying out rescue operations, bringing home Israelis from all over the world, mostly soldiers. Then there was a state of shock again: customers wanted to cancel, stay at home, and see what happens. Slowly, recovery began again; people wanted to get out, diplomatic activity resumed, and efforts to return abductees started. But many soldiers were still fighting in Gaza or in the north. Sons, daughters, Israelis didn't know whether to leave the country or stay. There is work, there is business to promote, there is an economy to drive. Then a new concept was created. If after the pandemic there was what was called 'revenge travel'—about taking that trip that was lost due to the global pandemic—now the concept of traveling for the sake of getting away from it all and 'recharging and refreshing' for a bit was born," she said.
According to Ben Tal Ganancia: "If we connect it to sports, part of the healing for the soul is in outdoor activities. It's not a resort vacation, but a formative activity that changes the way of thinking, and it's a market segment that has gained momentum recently. Today, El Al is central to the Israeli market, and we do what we can to add more flights. The number of planes is limited during this short period, and let's not forget that some of them serve in the air force. One of the things that characterize sporting events is that they are not always predictable. Fans—and if we take the recent example of Israeli singer Eden Golan from the Eurovision Song Contest, we have a situation where the Eurovision has taken on a much greater meaning. And here we are all mobilizing for the event—and so is the case in sports. This is an event that must be prepared for. For example, if we look at the Maccabi Tel Aviv game, everyone wants to fly in one direction, and then the plane returns empty—so we have to prepare in a special way. We have reserves, and we have the subsidiary Sun d’Or whose flights were quite popular both during the pandemic and after it. We clearly see the demand for flights when an event approaches that there is interest. Incidentally, this also happens at music concerts. This industry is gaining momentum."
She continued: "Also on the health level, part of the treatment of war victims goes through us. For example, recently we arranged a special operation in which we flew children from the Gaza border to see the Israeli national team in Budapest so that the children could enjoy themselves. I hear more and more of such trips in the field of therapeutic sports. Today sports is really a market segment. In addition, Israel is a soccer-loving country. We see at this time that more and more people want to go out and cheer, especially in view of the fact that Israeli teams sometimes play in stadiums without their fans. Unfortunately, there are also aspects of security and anti-Semitism, but for the upcoming Olympics, we see a very strong trend of Israeli groups planning to go. Let's not forget that the Euro is approaching, and we launched a package of flight plus train travel. I also hope more airlines will join us because it is difficult to meet the demands, but the trend indicates how strong the state of Israel is."
