Israeli leisure carrier Israir Group has suspended plans to introduce another pair of Airbus A320s next year, as a result of the Gaza conflict.
The airline has been operating six A320s this year – two owned and four on long-term dry lease – and it tentatively agreed in August to dry-lease another pair.
These twinjets were due to arrive in the second half of 2024, following a memorandum of understanding reached with a foreign company.
But the outbreak of the Gaza conflict in early October has disrupted the airline’s operations.
Israir Group states, in a third-quarter briefing, that it has decided “not to advance” to a binding agreement following discussions with the lessor at the end of November.
The airline intends to wait until the conflict ends, and reassess the market, before seeking a new dry-lease deal.
Under an agreement reached last year the airline had also been wet-leasing three aircraft – an A320 and a pair of Boeing 737-800s – over the course of 2023.
But it says these returned to their operator shortly after the conflict began because their foreign crews asked to leave Israel.
Israir Group turned in a profit of $21.2 million for the nine months to 30 September, around the same level as the previous year, on a near-30% rise in revenues to $341 million.
It has yet to quantify the impact of the conflict on its financial performance, but states that its fourth quarter figures, and possibly those for the first quarter of 2024, will be affected.
