El Al says it is capping prices of one-way flights to help stranded Israelis get home

El Al Israel Airlines says it is capping the prices of one-way tickets to help Israelis stranded overseas to travel back home from a number of key hubs after most foreign carriers halted their services to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport following the ballistic missile attack from Yemen, which hit an area at Israel’s main international airport yesterday.

Israel’s flagship carrier is introducing a maximum price policy for one-way tickets from several destinations to Tel Aviv. One-way tickets from Rome will be sold for a maximum of $333, from Barcelona for up to $349, from Paris for up to $392, from London Luton airport for up to $424, from Thessaloniki for up to $289, and from New York for up to $799.

Those prices are for “lite” tickets in economy class, without luggage, and will be valid until May 17. On Sunday, El Al started to sell one-way flight tickets from nearby Greece and Cyprus, from Larnaca to Tel Aviv for $99 and from Athens to Tel Aviv for $149.

“Israeli aviation has a national responsibility to continue connecting Israel to the world in this period, while providing solutions to Israelis seeking to return home,” says Shlomi Zafrany, VP of Commercial & Industrial Affairs at El Al.

Major European and US airlines, including the Lufthansa group, Air France, British Airways, Delta, and United Airlines, on Sunday halted their flight services to and from Tel Aviv. The hiatus of foreign airlines has again left El Al alongside smaller local carriers Arkia and Israir with a near-monopoly.