El Al to Zagreb

El-Al Boeing B737-700

The national carrier of Israel, El Al, will commence weekly direct flights between Tel Aviv and Zagreb in April this year. The news was announced by the Israeli tourism promotion office in Zagreb, the first of its kind. It has been set up by the Israeli ministry of tourism, the Israeli embassy in Croatia and Zagreb tourist agency Sai tours. The Israeli Ministry of Tourism Director for Central and Southern Europe Yehud Shen said the Israeli tourism industry had enjoyed four billion US dollars in turnover last year and that amount will increase this year. The 3 million foreign tourists in Israel in 2008 included 7.000 Croats who went there on pilgrimage or to visit friends and family members. Shen called on all Croatian tourist agencies to take advantage of good opportunities in Israel and said they could expect support from their Israeli counterparts.

Seasonal summer flights were operated successfully from Dubrovnik to Tel Aviv in 2008.