Israel’s war with Hamas is badly affecting the country’s aviation and tourism industries. El Al Israel Airlines (TASE: ELAL), headed by Dina Ben Tal Ganancia, published a warning yesterday saying that, because of the war, it will operate fewer flights in the fourth quarter of this year. The airline says that at this stage it does not know how large the financial damage will be in the quarter.
El Al’s announcement said that its board of directors met yesterday evening to discuss the security situation in the country. The assessment is that the war will lead to diminished demand for the company’s flights, at least in the last three months of the year. The company adds that "if the special security situation in the country persists, there will be a negative impact on the company’s results beyond the fourth quarter of 2023 as well."
El Al’s share price is down 2.37% so far today, giving the company a market cap of NIS 746 million. The share price is still up by about 15% for the year to date.
Hotels company Isrotel (ISRO) published a similar warning on Sunday. The company sees demand for travel to Israel being adversely affected by the war. Fattal Holdings (TASE: FTAL), another hotels company has also issued a warning on the same lines. Most of its hotels are located in Israel, with the rest in Europe.
Other such warnings have been issued by aviation company Israir Group (TASE: ISRG), controlled by retailing mogul Rami Levy, Dan Hotels (TASE: DANH), controlled by the Federmann family, vacation packages company Aviation Links (TASE: AVIA), and tourism and real estate company Issta (TASE: ISTA), Globes reports.
