Ever since Air India began operating direct flights from Tel Aviv to Delhi in March, overflying Saudi Arabia, airlines have been offering cheaper flights to India with stopovers.
The latest this morning was Ethiopian Airlines, which is offering a flight to India for $461 with a 90-minute stopover in Addis Ababa, including up to 40 kilograms of luggage.
A "Globes" check of several dates shows that roundtrip flights actually cost $500, which is still definitely an attractive price. The bargain is valid for people ordering tickets by the end of June (the dates of the flights is not restricted, but the number of discount tickets on them is limited).
The flight from Tel Aviv to Delhi will take less than 13 hours, and the return flight from Delhi to Tel Aviv will take 14 hours. Ethiopian Airlines offers two daily flights from Tel Aviv to Addis Ababa: one morning flight and one late night flight.
Icelandic carrier WOW Air, which features trans-Atlantic flights to the US and Canada, is adding flights to the Far East by launching a route from Reykjavik, capital of Iceland, to Delhi. The new route will begin operating on December 5 using Airbus A330neo airliners. Fares from Iceland to India will start from $200 per passenger one way (excluding luggage and other accessories). To this must be added the cost of a flight from Tel Aviv to Reykjavik.
This route is less attractive to Israeli passengers in both price and length of the journey. The flight from Reykjavik to India takes 10 hours and the flight from Tel Aviv to Iceland takes 7 hours; it is aimed more at passengers flying from the US on the way to India. WOW Air operates flights from Tel Aviv three times a week.
Several airlines already offer flights to India with stopovers, including Turkish Airlines, Uzbekistan Airways, and Aeroflot. These flights are available (for example at the end of May) for $700, while a direct seven-hour Air India flight from Tel Aviv to Delhi costs $650.
As with any connection flight, the question arises of whether the bargain being offered by Ethiopian Airlines is worthwhile. The $150 per-passenger saving is considerable, especially for family flights, and the length of the stopover is reasonable. On the other hand, cutting the flight time in half with a direct Air India flight is tempting. The competition is beneficial to passengers, who can compare prices and also consider flights with stopovers.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 21, 2018
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