ARKIA ISRAEL AIRLINES

'Arkia Israeli Airlines' (, ''I will take off''), usually referred to as 'Arkia' is an airline based in Tel Aviv, Israel. It is Israel's second largest airline operating scheduled domestic and international services as well as charter flights to Western Europe and the Mediterranean. Its main base is Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, whilst it also operates significant numbers of flights out of Sde Dov Airport in Tel Aviv, Eilat Airport, and Ovda International Airport.^[1]

Contents

History

Incidents and accidents

Destinations

Fleet

External links

References

History

Arkia was founded in 1949 as 'Israel Inland Airlines' when it became clear that there was demand for a local airline to connect the north of Israel (especially Tel Aviv) with the southern region of the Negev, as a subsidiary of El Al, Israel's national airline.^[2] Flights starting the following year with the airline unsing De Havilland DH.89 aircraft, followed by Douglas DC-3s, to connect Rosh Pina in the north to the port of Eilat in the south.² El Al held a 50% stake in the airline at this time with Histradut, Israel's labour federation, being the other shareholder.^[3] The airline later evolved to become 'Eilata Airlines, Aviron', and then to 'Arkia Israel Airlines'. In its first year of service, Israel Inland carried 13,485 passengers on their twice weekly flight, operated by a Curtis Commando.²
During the 1950s the airline continued to grow, upgrading their fleet to the larger DC-3, and flying two flights daily.² This allowed them to have annual passenger figures of over 70,000.² As Eilat continued to grow during the 1960s, so did Arkia, introducing the Handley Page Dart Herald series 200 jet propeller aircraft to its fleet between 1967–1968, enabling Arkia to expand with new routes to Jerusalem, Sharm-el-Sheikh, and Santa Caterina.² A subsidiary, Kanaf Arkia Airline and Aviation Services was founded as the airline acquired 50% of the stock of Kanaf Airlines and Aviation Services, and by the end of the 1960s, scheduled flights were flown across Israel, from Rosh Pina in the north, to Ofira in the south.²
In March 1980, Kanaf Arkia acquired the remaining stock of Arkia and merged the two operations. The airline grew quickly during the 1980s, moving into the international charter market, and airline maintenance. The airline is now owned by Kanaf-Arkia Airlines (75%) and airline employees (25%). In 2006, the Nakash brothers of Jordache Enterprises, bought Knafaim's 75% share.²
In February 2007, the Israeli Tourism Ministry awarded Arkia scheduled operator license for flights to Larnaca, Cyprus (which El Al recently dropped) and Dublin, Ireland.^[4] These international routes joined the airline's existing scheduled service to Amman, Jordan.

Incidents and accidents

On November 28, 2002, approximately 20 minutes before the Kenyan hotel bombing occurred, an Arkia Boeing 757 was narrowly missed by two anti-aircraft missiles shortly after takeoff from Moi International Airport in Kenya. The plane was able to land safely in Tel Aviv.^[5][6]

Destinations

Main articles: Arkia Israel Airlines Destinations

Arkia operates scheduled domestic services within Israel, as well as to Amman, Larnaca and Dublin. Additionally, the airline operates charter services to destinations across Europe. In July 2007 it emerged that the airline planned to file for further scheduled carrier status on routes to New York and Bangkok which it currently operates under a scheduled status.^[7]

Fleet

The Arkia Israeli Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (at July 2007):^[8]

'Arkia Fleet'

Aircraft	Total	Passengers	Routes	Notes
Boeing 757-300	2	265	Europe & Domestic Flights in the summer.	4X-BAU, 4X-BAW (Both will go to Primacharter once Arkia receive two 787's)
Boeing 757-200	1	213	Europe & Domestic Flights in the summer.	4X-BAZ
Boeing 787-9	(4 orders)	Currently unclear	Europe, North America, Far East	Delivery 2012-2013
ATR 72-500	4	72	Domestic, Cyprus and Short-distance European	4X-AVU, 4X-AVW, 4X-AVX, 4X-AVZ
Bombardier Dash 7 Series 100	7	50	Domestic, Short-distance European	Only 2 active for passenger transport

External links

★ Arkia Israel Airlines

★ Arkia Israel Airlines Fleet

References

1. Directory: World Airlines
2. About Arkia
3. El Al, the Israeli Airline
4. Arkia gets scheduled status
5. A History of Terrorism in Israel
6. Pilot of Arkia Flight 582 Describes What Happened
7. Arkia to add 2 more Boeing 787s
8.