airHaifa, (Hebrew: אייר חיפה, Arabic: طيران حيفا), is an Israeli airline. Its head office is going to be located in Haifa, Israel. airHaifa will be operating scheduled domestic and international services, as well as charter flights to destinations in Southeastern Europe, Middle East and across the Mediterranean. Its main base will be Haifa Airport.
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| Founded | 2023 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating bases | Haifa Airport[2] | ||||||
| Hubs | Haifa Airport | ||||||
| Headquarters | Haifa, Israel | ||||||
| Key people | Michael Strassburger, Co-Founder & EVP Nir Tzuk, Co-Founder Shai Babad, Co-Founder Rafi Danieli, Co-Founder[3] Gonen Osishkin[4] | ||||||
| Website | airhaifa | ||||||
History
editairHaifa, was founded by the Palo Alto Networks founder Nir Tzuk and the former Director General of the Ministry of Finance and Strauss Group CEO Shai Babad. Among other founders are former El Al chief commercial officer Michael Strassburger, former ZIM CEO Rafi Danieli,[3] former El Al VP of Operations Lior Yavor, former CEO of El Al Gonen Osishkin and other people.[4]
Company was officially registered on 20 March 2023.[5]
According to a statement by the Minister of Transportation Miri Regev, the expected start of flights is June 2024. Airline proclaim itself as the first commercial airline to be established at Haifa Airport.[2]
airHaifa is currently undergoing a comprehensive certification process under the CAAI, Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority. Upon the completion of the process, airHaifa will receive the certificates and permissions necessary to begin commercial services.[6]
Destinations
editairHaifa is hoping to launch operations during September 2024,[7] when at the beginning it will issue flights on the Haifa-Eilat route and later it will also fly to Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.[8] As of 9 July 2024, the airline website does not sell tickets and does not state a precise date when flights will start.
| Country | City | Airport | Notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Israel |
Eilat | Ramon International Airport | Planned | [9] |
| Haifa | Haifa Airport | Hub | [9] |
Fleet
editairHaifa is expected to operate a fleet of new ATR 72-600 aircraft, which can accommodate 72 passengers.[10]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 72-600 | — | 3 | 72 | One to be received by the end of July 2024. Two more in following months. All aircrafts are new.[11] |
References
edit- ^ "The Aviation Codes Website - Airline Codes Full Details". www.avcodes.co.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ a b "airHaifa: it's easy to just fly". airHaifa. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ a b Livne, Stav (4 April 2024). "Will Air Haifa be stillborn?". Globes. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ a b Kopel-Wanderman, Nirit (19 July 2023). "Low cost from Haifa airport? • The company 'airHaifa' was launched". Hai Fa - The News Corporation. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ פרץ זילברמן, ספיר (18 July 2023). "חברת התעופה הישראלית ״אייר חיפה״ של ניר צוק יוצאת לדרך". פספורטניוז (in Hebrew). Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ "airHaifa: it's easy to just fly". airHaifa. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ "Air Haifa to receive first aircraft this month". Globes. 9 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ "'Air Haifa': New airline set to launch out of northern Israel". The Times of Israel. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ a b Zahavi, Mia (17 May 2024). "Another step towards the return of international flights to the airport in Haifa". Hai Fa - The News Corporation. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
- ^ Sipinski, Dominik (28 September 2023). "Israel's airHaifa to launch with ATR72-600s". CH Aviation. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
- ^ "Air Haifa to receive first aircraft this month". Globes. 9 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
External links
edit- Official website (in Arabic, English, and Hebrew)
