airHaifa, (Hebrew: אייר חיפה, Arabic: طيران حيفا), is an Israeli airline. Its head office is going to be located in Haifa, Israel. airHaifa will be operating scheduled domestic and international services, as well as charter flights to destinations in Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and across the Mediterranean. airHaifa will be the first commercial airline based at the Haifa Airport.[4]
airHaifa, the first new Israeli airline since the 1990s,[4] was founded by Nir Zuk, the founder of Palo Alto Networks and Shai Babad, the former director general of the Israeli Ministry of Finance and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Strauss Group. Among other founders are former El Al chief commercial officer Michael Strassburger, former ZIM CEO, Rafi Danieli,[3] former vice president of operations for El Al, Lior Yavor, former CEO of El Al, Gonen Osishkin and other people.[5]
The company was officially registered on 20 March 2023.[6]
According to a statement by Miri Regev, the Minister of Transportation, the expected start of flights is June 2024.The airline states that it is the first commercial airline to be established at Haifa Airport.[2]
airHaifa and the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI) are working on certifying the airline. Once certification is complete, and airHaifa receives the necessary documentation, the airline can begin commercial service.[2]
airHaifa is hoping to launch operations during September 2024,[7] when at the beginning it will issue flights on the Haifa-Eilat route and later it will also fly to Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.[8] As of 20 July 2024, the airline website does not sell tickets and does not state a precise date when flights will start.
