Originally Posted by
adampenrith
EL AL is hampered in many ways due to not every nation wanting to deal with the Jewish state and its entities.
For instance SIN - while SIN would be very welcoming to EL AL - its impossible to get in and out of SIN as Malaysia and Indonesia will not allow EL AL overfly rights.
Yes, and to serve as a regional hub for feeding pax in the system is IMO equally troublesome, that hub revenue will be likely untapped for the near future. I am an optimist, there are so many signs on the wall that this is going to change slowly, but it will be still 20 years or so until something like a normalization can materialize, a bid long in my opinion for a business plan of a private company.
Originally Posted by
adampenrith
How are you going to differentiate the security issue. I know I always fly EL AL to Isreal due to the security, if that changes then it opens up competition for me, and maybe for many other pax.
For me its a bid in reverse, I feel that all carriers are safe to TLV and I prefer to stick mostly with them who offer me the most seamless network and an executive bonus on my miles, that is not LY. I am more annoyed if someone runs away with my laptop with many sensitive data on it. If already on MUC they are able to abuse security checks for different purposes, how is that going to look like on TLV where the laptop is being regularly taken away from your sight. I have nothing to hide, but my stomach crampes anyway. Then, how is the heigthened security need squaring with more transit pax, I don't know and can not imagin how they will feel @TLV about too much transit pax there.
All in all, not the most promising aspect for a hub.