Israel caps price of airline tickets to Larnaca

Prices between Larnaca and Tel Aviv, Israel were capped on Wednesday by Israel’s state airline company Elal.

After a meeting with Israel’s Finance Minister Nir Barkat, the company decided to cap the prices for flights to Larnaca, Athens and Vienna.

The Larnaca-Tel Aviv round trip ticket will be set at $199. For Athens it will be set at $299, while for Vienna it will be $349. 

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, many foreign airlines have suspended until further notice their services to and from the Israeli international airports of Tel Aviv, Eilat and Haifa. This development has resulted in a dramatic increase in ticket prices for flights operated by both the state-owned El Al and the private airlines Arkia and ISRAIR.

Wednesday’s meeting, held at the initiative of Barkat, was aimed at locking in prices for certain popular destinations in view of the last period of the summer school holidays and the upcoming Jewish New Year and Sukkot holiday season in October.

The decision by the Israeli ministry to intervene in the price of airline tickets was prompted by strong criticism from consumer groups and the high level of publicity given to the dramatic increase in airline ticket prices, particularly by the state-owned El Al, whose management was accused of being insensitive to the needs of the average citizen to travel abroad at a time when the country is at war and foreign airlines’ flights are cancelled.

In Cyprus, the United Kingdom continued to be the primary source of tourists, contributing 35.6 per cent of the total arrivals in June 2024, which equates to 171,704 visitors. Other significant contributors include Israel, despite the war, accounting for 10.7 per cent (51,814 tourists),