El Al accused of exploitation during flight ban
Israeli carrier El Al has been accused of unfairly exploiting its virtual monopoly during this week’s flight ban.
After the FAA banned US flights to Israel and several European carriers followed suit, fares on El Al skyrocketed, according to Israeli newspaper TheMarker.
TheMarker analysed available fares on El Al on Wednesday, when the flight ban came into effect, and found some fares skyrocketed by as much as 150%.
It found a roundtrip fare on El Al to London leaving July 23 and returning July 31 almost doubled to $1,520 from a price of just $820 offered for sale the day before.
On the Tel Aviv-New York route for the same date, the fare rose sharply to $2,750 from $1,670 the day before the flight ban was announced.
Ehud Peleg, an attorney who is head of the Israel Consumer Council, said El Al was exploiting the situation.
"Even if it is legal, El Al is making an unfair profit from a situation created because of the war," said Peleg.
But El Al told local journalists it had not taken advantage of the situation and claimed fares are set in advance according to the peak season of Isreali tourism.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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