Arkia

Arkia
ארקיע‬
IATA ICAO Callsign
IZ AIZ ARKIA
Founded 1949 (as Israel Inland Airlines)
Operating bases Ben Gurion Airport
Eilat Airport
Sde Dov Airport
Fleet size 7
Destinations 25
Parent company Jordache Enterprises (75%)
Headquarters Sde Dov Airport
Tel Aviv, Israel
Key people Gadi Tepper (CEO)
Website arkia.com

Arkia, legally incorporated as Arkia Israeli Airlines Ltd (Hebrew: ארקיע‬, I will soar, Arabic: خطوط أركيا‎), is an Israeli airline. Its head office is on the grounds of Sde Dov Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel.[1] It is Israel's second-largest airline,[2] operating scheduled domestic and international services, as well as charter flights to destinations in Western Europe and across the Mediterranean. Its main base is Sde Dov Airport, with hubs at Eilat Airport and Ovda Airport.[3]

History

Arkia operated the first Israeli civilian helicopter service in October 1959.
Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt arriving for a visit in Eilat on an Arkia airplane. March 26, 1959

Arkia was founded in 1949 as Israel Inland Airlines when it became clear that there was demand for a local airline to connect Tel Aviv with different regions of the then-new state of Israel, especially with Eilat, Israel's important seaport situated on the Gulf of Aqaba.[4] Flights commenced in 1950 with De Havilland DH.89 aircraft, followed by Douglas DC-3s, to inter-connect major towns in Israel from Rosh Pina in the North to the port of Eilat in the South.[4] El Al held a 50% stake in the airline at this time with the Histadrut, Israel's labour federation, being the other shareholder. The airline later adopted the name Eilata Airlines - Aviron, and Arkia Israel Airlines . In its first year of service, Israel Inland Airlines carried 13,485 passengers, using a Curtis Commando.[4]

During the 1950s, the airline continued to grow, upgrading its fleet to the larger DC-3, and operating two flights a day on the Tel Aviv-Eilat route.[4] This allowed Arkia to have annual passenger figures of over 70,000.[4] As Eilat continued to grow during the 1960s, so did the airline, introducing the Handley Page Dart Herald 200 turboprop aircraft to its fleet between 1967–1968, enabling Arkia to expand with new routes to Jerusalem, and Sharm-el-Sheikh.[4] A subsidiary, Kanaf Arkia Airline and Aviation Services, was founded when the airline acquired 50% of the stock of Kanaf Airlines and Aviation Services, and, by the end of the 1960s, scheduled flights were in operation across Israel, from Rosh Pina in the north, to Ofira in the south.[4]

An Arkia Boeing 737-200 at Orly Airport, Paris, France. (1982)

In March 1980, Kanaf Arkia acquired the remaining stock of Arkia and merged the two operators . The airline grew quickly during the 1980s, moving both 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.[4]

In February 2007, the Israeli Tourism Ministry awarded Arkia a scheduled operator's licence for flights to Dublin, and Larnaca, a destination dropped by EL AL.[5] In July 2007, it was announced that the airline planned to file for further scheduled carrier status on routes to New York City and Bangkok, currently served under charter status.[6] Furthermore, in early 2008, after the Israeli Tourism Ministry opened up the airline market, the airline applied for scheduled carrier status for routes to Barcelona, Berlin, Moscow, and Paris . The licence for Paris was granted in February 2008, and the airline announced that both economy and business class would be offered on this route . At this time, the airline also announced that it would add two Boeing 737 aircraft to its fleet within two years, as well as four Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft it had on order which were to delivered in 2012.[7] The order for the 787s was moved to a leasing subsidiary owned by MG Aviation and leased to Norwegian Air Shuttle. The order was replaced with an order for 4 A330neo aircraft.[8]

Destinations

Fleet

Arkia ATR 72-500
Arkia Boeing 757-300
Arkia Embraer 195

The Arkia Israel Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft as of August 2017:[9]

Arkia Israel Airlines Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Airbus A321neo — 3[10] — 220 220[11] Deliveries starting in 2018[11]
Airbus A330-900neo — 2[10] TBA
Boeing 757-300 1 — — 265 265
Boeing 767-300ER 1 — — 258 258[12] Leased from Neos
Embraer 190 3 — — 110 110
Embraer 195 3 — — 122 122
Embraer 195-E2 — 6[13] — 134 134
Total 7 11

Former aircraft

Arkia Israel Airlines has also operated the following aircraft:[14][15][16]

Aircraft Total
ATR 72-500 5
Boeing 737-200 7
Boeing 757-200 3
Boeing 757-300 1
Curtiss C-46 Commando Unknown
de Havilland Canada Dash 7 13
Douglas DC-3 Unknown
Handley Page Dart Herald Unknown
Vickers Viscount Unknown

Livery

In May 2017 Arkia unveiled a new livery, ahead of the delivery of new aircraft, which consists of a lower-case 'a' on the vertical fin, which also features the striping effect, and multicoloured stripes on the aft section and the winglets of each aircraft. The colour of the stripes and logo will vary between each individual aircraft.[17]

Incidents and accidents

References

  1. ↑ "Directory: World airlines." Flight International. 16–22 March 2004. 88 Archived 2012-10-25 at the Wayback Machine..
  2. ↑ "Financial Mirror dot com - Arkia Airlines starts flights between Cyprus and Israel". Financialmirror.com. 2014-02-03. Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
  3. ↑ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-03-27. p. 77.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "About Arkia". Arkia Israel Airlines. Archived from the original on 2007-05-18. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  5. ↑ "Arkia gets scheduled status". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
  6. ↑ "Arkia to add 2 more Boeing 787s". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  7. ↑ Dalia Tal (2008-02-12). "Arkia named designated carrier on TA-Paris route". Globes. Archived from the original on 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  8. ↑ 2018, UBM (UK) Ltd. "Arkia to Launch Long-Haul with Airbus A330-900neo Deal". Archived from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  9. ↑ "Arkia Israeli Airlines fleet". flightradar24.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Orders and deliveries". Airbus. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  11. 1 2 Nensel, Mark (26 April 2017). "Israel's Arkia selects CFM LEAP-1A engine for A321neos". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "I-NDDL Arkia - Israeli Airlines Boeing 767-300". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  13. ↑ "Embraer and Arkia sign Letter of Intent for six E195-E2 jets". Prnewswire.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
  14. ↑ "Arkia Fleet - Airfleets aviation". www.airfleets.net. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  15. ↑ "Arkia - Israeli Airlines Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  16. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  17. ↑ "PICTURE: Arkia revamps livery ahead of fleet renewal". London: Flightglobal. 15 May 2017. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017.
  18. ↑ "A History of Terrorism in Israel". Archived from the original on 9 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
  19. ↑ "Pilot of Arkia Flight 582 Describes What Happened". CNN. Archived from the original on 2007-12-23. Retrieved 2007-05-05.

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