After a nine year break, the Finnish tourism operator Aurinkomatkat has decided to renew flights from Finland to Israel. It will likewise begin direct flights from Estonia to Israel. The operator will charter a weekly flight on Sundays between Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, and Eilat between October and December. The new 180 seat-flight will join the ranks of existing charter flights from Finland and St. Petersburg to Israel.
The Israel Government Tourist Office (IGTO) in Scandinavia continues to encourage tourism from Estonia to Israel, with an emphasis on tourism to Eilat. Due to the southern town’s mild winter weather, two weekly flights on the Helsinki-Eilat line will operate between October and April. The route is being added to 12 existing charter flights on the Helsinki-Tel Aviv route.
Since January, 30,000 Nordic tourists have visited Israel, a seven percent increase over last year. Over 9,000 Finnish tourists (a 71 percent increase), about 8,000 from Sweden, about 6,000 from Norway, about 5,000 from Denmark, and hundreds of visitors from Iceland have visited Israel since the beginning of the year.