Sun d'Or

Sun d'Or
סאן דור
IATA ICAO Callsign
LY ELY ELAL
Founded 1977
Hubs Ben Gurion Airport
Frequent-flyer program Matmid
Fleet size 2 (from El Al)
Destinations 21
Parent company El Al
Headquarters Tel Aviv, Israel
Key people Uri Danor, President
Website sundor.co.il

Sun d'Or (Hebrew: סאן דור‎, also styled as Sund'or) is an Israeli airline brand and former airline with its base at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. It is a fully owned subsidiary of El Al which uses the brand mainly for seasonal scheduled and charter services mostly to European destinations. All of their flights are operated by El Al, as Sun d'Or's own license was suspended in 2011.

History

Sun d'Or was established on 1 October 1977 as El Al Charter Services Ltd., as a subsidiary of El Al at a time when the airline was fully owned by the State. The airline changed its name in 1981 to Sun d’Or (d’Or means "of Gold" in French), and soon after, Uriel Yashiv, the CEO of the airline at the time, chose to add "International Airlines" to the airline's name to create Sun d'Or International Airlines. This additional qualification is not used in Hebrew, however, and both aircraft flown by the company bear solely the "Sun d'Or - סאן דור" title.

In 1988 Sun d'Or had its head office in the El Al House in Tel Aviv.[1]

Since April 2001, Sun d'Or had grown to become a significant player in the Israeli charter market. The airline also operated flights for incoming tourists, on behalf of European and Israeli operators. In January 2005, Sun d'Or became a private company following the privatisation of El Al. The airline is licensed for the commercial transport of passengers and cargo on charter flights to and from Israel and owned an Air Operator Certificate to operate two leased planes that were fully serviced by El Al's maintenance.

Sun D’Or International Airlines remained a fully owned subsidiary company of El Al and as such its passengers could take advantage of this association. Benefits included the ability for passengers to accumulate El Al frequent flyer points on Sun d'Or flights, and the supplying of food including all types of special meals through Tamam-Catering, an El-Al Subsidiary. El Al also provided ground services, air crews and aircraft for Sun d'Or. The airline had introduced a new look website and were to apply the same to their fleet as well.[2]

In March 2011, The Israel Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced the suspension of Sun d'Or's operating license effective 1 April 2011. The CAA based its decision citing non-compliance with Israeli and international airline management standards, mainly lack of self-owned planes and crew.[3] Since then, Sun d'Or no longer operates own aircraft but utilizes planes from its parent, El Al.

In May 2015, El Al confirmed to be in talks to merge Sun d'Or into its competitor Israir Airlines. While Sun d'Or would be dissolved, El Al would gain shares in Israir instead.[4]

Destinations

A former Sun d'Or Boeing 707, departing from Düsseldorf Airport in 1984
A former Sun d'Or Boeing 757-200, retired in 2011 and broken up in 2012

Sun d'Or branded scheduled and charter flights are operated by El Al to the following destinations as of May 2015:

Country City Airport Notes Refs
AustriaSalzburgSalzburg AirportSeasonal
Begins 8 April 2019		[5]
BelarusMinskMinsk National AirportSeasonal
CroatiaZagrebZagreb AirportSeasonal
FranceGrenobleGrenoble AirportSeasonal
ParisCharles de Gaulle Airport
GermanyMunichMunich AirportSeasonal
StuttgartStuttgart AirportSeasonal[6]
GeorgiaBatumiBatumi International Airport[7]
TbilisiTbilisi International AirportSeasonal[6]
GreeceCorfuCorfu International AirportSeasonal
HeraklionHeraklion International AirportSeasonal
RhodesRhodes International AirportSeasonal
ThessalonikiMacedonia International AirportSeasonal
Begins 14 April 2019		[5]
ZakynthosZakynthos International AirportSeasonal
IsraelTel AvivBen Gurion AirportHub
ItalyCataniaCatania–Fontanarossa AirportSeasonal
NaplesNaples International AirportSeasonal
RomeLeonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino AirportSeasonal
TurinTurin AirportSeasonal
VeronaVerona AirportSeasonal
LituaniaVilniusVilnius International AirportSeasonal
NetherlandsAmsterdamAmsterdam Airport SchipholSeasonal
PolandKatowiceKatowice International AirportSeasonal
ŁódźŁódź Władysław Reymont AirportSeasonal
PortugalLisbonLisbon AirportSeasonal
SpainBarcelonaBarcelona–El Prat Airport
MálagaMálaga AirportSeasonal[8]
ValenciaValencia Airport
SeychellesMahéSeychelles International AirportSeasonal
TanzaniaZanzibarAbeid Amani Karume International AirportSeasonal
UkraineOdessaOdessa International AirportSeasonal

Fleet

Sun d'Or Boeing 737-800

As of May 2018, the fleet operated under the Sun d'Or brand consists of the following aircraft:[9]

Sun d'Or Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
Boeing 737-800 4 — 189 2 operated by El Al; 4X-EKR in Sun d'Or livery[10] 2 operated by AirExplore OM-FEX; OM-IEX
Total 4 — —

References

  1. ↑ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 26 March 1988. 117.
  2. ↑ Sun d'Or Boeing 757 featuring a modified new look in Berlin special fare promotional
  3. ↑ "Israel's Sun d'Or has operating licence withdrawn".
  4. ↑ http://ch-aviation.com/portal/news/37625-israels-el-al-confirms-talks-to-merge-sun-dor-with-israir
  5. 1 2 Liu, Jim (12 September 2018). "El Al / Sun d'Or schedules new seasonal routes in S19". Routesonline. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Sun D'Or Adds New Seasonal Weekly Service in S16". Airlineroute.net. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Liu, Jim (25 January 2017). "Sun d'Or plans new routes in S17". Routesonline. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  8. ↑ Liu, Jim (9 November 2016). "Sun D'or adds Malaga seasonal service in S17". Routesonline. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  9. ↑ http://ch-aviation.com/portal/aircraft/search?search=1&cha=7L
  10. ↑ Photo of El Al 737 in Sun d'Or livery

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