El Al considers take-over of Arkia

In a statement to the Tel Aviv stock exchange, El Al has announced it is in talks with Arkia about a possible take-over of the smaller airline. If a deal is reached, El Al would buy its smaller rival in exhange for stocks in El Al.

Airlines in Israel have been heavily impacted by the Corona-pandemic, which has lead El Al to announce a large reorganization last month. The airline is planning to reduce its fleet of 45 aircraft to 29.

Arkia, originally founded in 1949 as Israel Inland Airlines is an airline focusing on leisure-flights. It currently has a fleet of five aircraft consisting of three ERJ195s and two A321-200NXs.

The plan to acquire Arkia is not a first attempt of El Al to buy a rival as the airline also tried to buy Israir back in 2018. This attempt was, however, blocked by the Israeli anti-trust authority as it would hinder competition in the market.

Photo by Airbus.