Up (airline)

UP by El Al
IATA ICAO Call sign
LY ELY EL AL
FoundedNovember 2013
Ceased operations14 October 2018
Operating basesBen Gurion Airport[1]
Fleet size4[2]
Destinations6[3]
Key peopleIsrael "Izzy" Borovich
Websiteflyup.com

Up (styled as UP by EL AL) was a low-cost airline brand of Israeli El Al.[4] El Al announced in January 2018 that UP would cease operations in October 2018 to be remerged into El Al.[5]

History

On 26 November 2013, El Al unveiled its new low-cost airline Up,[2][6] which commenced operations on 30 March 2014, initially to Berlin, Budapest, Kyiv, Larnaca and Prague[2] using five Boeing 737-800s transferred from the El Al mainline fleet.[2] Up was founded by its parent El Al to be used on some routes to Europe where it replaced El Al itself. All flights of Up were operated by El Al, using El Al's call sign and codes with a four digit number.[2] For flights over two hours the airline offered a buy on board service.[7]

In August 2014, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary wanted to develop a "Ryanair Israel", connecting Israel with cities across Europe. He said an inhibiting factor in the plan was Israeli authorities' protectiveness of El Al from competition.[8]

In January 2018 it was announced that El Al were to discontinue the Up brand. Up was planned to cease operations by October 2018 and all flights and aircraft would return to El Al.[5][9] El Al therefore introduced a new fare structure to replace the Up offers.[5] The last flights took place on 14 October 2018.

As of 2023, some El Al aircraft that were formerly part of Up still have the cloud livery.

Destinations

Up served the following destinations until 14 October 2018:[10]

Country City Airport Notes Refs
Cyprus Larnaca Larnaca International Airport Terminated [10]
Czech Republic Prague Václav Havel Airport Prague Terminated [10]
Germany Berlin Berlin Schönefeld Airport Terminated [10]
Hungary Budapest Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport Terminated [10]
Israel Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport Base [10]
Ukraine Kyiv Boryspil International Airport Terminated [10]

Fleet

Up Boeing 737-800
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Y+ Y Total
Boeing 737-800 4 — 36 144 180 were operated by and returned to El Al[5]
Total 4 —

References

  1. ^ "Low-cost airlines welcomed to Israel | News". Breaking Travel News. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  2. ^ a b c d e Elis, Niv (2013-11-26). "El Al starting low cost airline". Jpost.com. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  3. ^ Elis, Niv (2013-11-26). "El Al launches low-cost carrier 'Up' | JPost | Israel News". JPost. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  4. ^ "Contact Us." Up. Retrieved on 23 April 2014. "Address: EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. Customer Care Department POB 41 Ben-Gurion Airport, 7015001 ISRAEL"
  5. ^ a b c d ch-aviation.com - Israel's El Al to drop UP budget brand 4 January 2018
  6. ^ "UP livery on a 737-800". Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  7. ^ "Menu" (Archive). Up. p. 5/5. Retrieved on 21 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Israeli market beckons Ryanair". Irish Sun.com. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  9. ^ El Al to Drop the Up Brand
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "UP reservations page". Retrieved 2017-04-23.

Media related to Up (airline) at Wikimedia Commons