Ireland Israel Business (IIB), a Dublin-based consultancy firm dedicated to boosting Irish-Israeli trade, has announced that it has secured a direct air route between Ireland and Israel.
The firm announced that EL AL, Israel's national airline, will commence three scheduled weekly flights between Dublin and Tel Aviv, starting in May of 2020.
Trade Boost
"The announcement of a direct flight between Dublin and Tel Aviv is a game-changer for Israeli companies looking to access European markets following Brexit," said Mattan Lass, managing director of Ireland Israel Business. "It is also a huge help for Irish companies that want to benefit from Israel's unique expertise in tech innovation. Ireland Israel Business has led the tech community's campaign for a direct flight since 2012. We are delighted to see that our efforts have borne fruit."
The move looks to be a major boost to trade between the two regions, with Dublin holding European headquarters for tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, eBay, Paypal, Dropbox, and Airbnb, and Tel Aviv being home to some of the world's biggest centres of research and development.
The announcement comes off the back of a series of significant Israeli investments in Ireland.
North American Access
IIB said that the new flights are also likely to have a major impact on how travellers from Israel reach North America.
Dublin Airport's US Preclearance (USCBP) facility will enable US-bound passengers to proceed through US immigration and customs inspections at the airport.
It will also enable passengers to take advantage of the large number of North American destinations available for connection from Ireland.
New Routes
El Al CEO Gonen Usishkin added that the group working to extend its current operations and expand its network of routes and open routes to new destinations.
"In the last quarter we commenced new routes to San Francisco, Las Vegas and Manchester in addition to a new route to Nice in the first quarter," Gonen Usishkin explained. "We have also announced new routes to Tokyo and Chicago, which will begin operating in March 2020, and today we have announced new routes to Dublin and Dusseldorf, which will begin operating for the summer of 2020."
© 2019 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Aidan O'Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
