El Al no longer offering free frequent flyer miles for IDF reservists

The Israeli airline company El Al will no longer offer free frequent flyer miles for Israeli reservist soldiers, the company announced on Wednesday.

"After two days of the offer, El Al gave out 1.8 billion air mile points for 18 million days of service in the reserves, to 81,000 servicemen," the company said in its official statement.

Following widespread criticism of its very high ticket prices, El Al announced in February that at least 10,000 IDF reservists were eligible to receive free airfare. However, demand has vastly outstripped supply as a whopping 100,000 Israelis reportedly logged onto El Al’s website to receive free flyer miles.

The special promotion that the airline initially offered to reservists has now ended, leaving many Israelis disappointed. However, the airline company announced that 20,000 IDF reservists were rewarded with free tickets. In addition, El Al pledged that reservists who have served for at least 60 days were eligible for a full cash refund for canceled flights and other benefits.

Many international airline companies have canceled or greatly reduced their Israel flights due to the ongoing war. This has resulted in a situation where El Al has enjoyed a near monopoly on inbound and outbound flights to and from Ben-Gurion International Airport.

In June 2024, El Al announced a record $80.5 million profit during the year’s first quarter, citing “unusual demand.”

"Due to the fact that the war brought about significant changes in the movement of passengers in Israel and in the offer of flights in the market, the demand for the company's flights in the first quarter of 2024, despite the gradual return of foreign airlines, continued even stronger and even increased,” El Al stated.

"The company is experiencing increased demand for its flights in relation to the seat-capacity it can offer and is continuing its operational efforts to increase the supply of flights as much as possible, within the limits of its capacity, and is making commercial and operational adjustments. Because of this, the traditional seasonal trend, in which the winter months see low passenger traffic, was not reflected in the current quarter, and therefore this period was characterized by demand levels that the company experiences in peak seasons in normal times," the El Al statement read.

The situation arose from the rapidly declining alternatives to El Al for flights to and from Israel.

Meanwhile, El Al's profits have shown substantial growth throughout 2024. The company’s profits reached $147 million during the second quarter of 2024. Furthermore, the company’s profits reached a record $187 million in the third quarter. This was a 258% increase compared to the $52 million profit recorded during the same period in 2023. El Al’s total revenues in 2024 reached $1 billion, a significant improvement compared to $695 million in the previous year.

International and especially European airline companies expressed concerns about airspace safety in the Middle East amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Iranian-led terrorist proxy axis, which includes Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and other militias in Syria and Iraq.

While El Al still dominates the Israeli flight market, the Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air recently announced that it would resume flights between Israel and ten European destinations on Jan. 15.