introduction
Welcome back to part 2 of my short Eilat trip from Tel Aviv on Israir A320.
This part covers the flight from Eilat Ramon to Tel Aviv but this time I upgraded myself to a premium seat.
As I wrote in the first part the upgrade costs only about 15 USD so let's find out if it's worth it.
Let's get into it!
routing
Flight routing
- 1
- 26H46-Premium Economy- Eilat→Tel Aviv- Airbus A320
eilat ramon airport
After a short but fun day in Eilat I took the bus back to the airport and arrived there about an hour before.
Check in area:
After a quick security questioning and the usual security check which both went really quick (I didn't have to go through Check In since I did it online and didn't have anything luggage to send) I was already at the airside after about 10-15 minutes.
The gates area from above:
As you may see the airport it's quite empty, that's because it was built to host both domestic flights to\from Tel Aviv and also international flights but currently there is not a single foreign airline operating here.
Most airlines who flew here previous winter canceled their flights here for winter 2023\4.
The very short flight schedule, indicating our flight is delayed in 25 minutes:
The empty ramp:
There is even a lounge here, I wonder when was the last time it was open:
Since only 2\8 gates were used there were a plenty of seats in the gate area, as well as some shops:
Our flight is from GATE 3:
That's my ride for today: Israir Airbus A320-200 4X-ABI.
It was manufactured in 2016 for Israir and flying with them ever since. It's their newest A320 and the only one with Sharklets, and I also think it's the only one that has Premium seats.
boarding
Shortly after the passengers from Tel Aviv disembarked we started boarding. It was already 16:20 while the original boarding was supposed to be 15:15.
As you can see the aircraft is parked right in front of the terminal so you walk directly to it.
cabin
The crew greeted us onboard and I went to my seat, 1A.
The premium cabin here contains only 8 seats in 2 rows (but only 2\8 were occupied) and behind it is the economy class which doesn't look so comfortable.
The premium seats are basically basic business seats, which is still much better than all ''Euro Business'' classes out there:
Footrest and infinite legroom:
Tray table:
Adjustable headrest:
There are also 2 USB ports, however I forgot to check if they're actually working:
Seat pocket contents including an inflight magazine, buy on board menu and safety instructions (taken on the first flight):
takeoff
40 minutes after the scheduled departure time, and after safety demonstration was complete, we headed directly to the runway to takeoff, without having to wait in line like in TLV.
The full Takeoff video:
inflight
The galley, however just like the inbound flight there was no inflight service, except for water which was available by request:
Loo was standard and relatively clean:
The first part of the flight when we flew above the Negev desert was too sunny to film, so I captured the views of Tel Aviv's area only.
The Judean Mountains+ wing view:
More of this beautiful view:
Ben Gurion Airport from above:
Petah Tikva and Tel Aviv:
The coast of northern Tel Aviv, here was the second airport of Tel Aviv called Sde Dov, offering flights to Eilat and other nearby destinations, until it was unfortunately closed and demolished in 2019:
The coast of Netanya:
The town of Tel Mond and the agricultural fields nearby:
The densely populated city of Tira in comparison to the fields:
landing
After this stunning approach we landed at Runway 21 and taxied to our parking stand near Terminal 1.
The full landing video:
ben gurion airport
Deboarding was really quick (not hard when you seat in first row) and I boarded the first bus to the terminal.
Our airplane as can be seen from the bus:
EL AL B738 from Nice:
Ryanair B738 MAX from Paphos:
Air India B788 (arrived the night before from Delhi and was probably grounded for technical reasons):
Arkia E195 from Mykonos:
Israir A320 in the hangar after arriving from Catania:
The entrance of the domestic arrivals hall of Terminal 1, looks like it was renovated lately:
Baggage claim:
Ironically when you exit Terminal 1 arrivals hall after a domestic LCC-like flight the first thing you see is the premium private terminal, maybe next time (but probably not..):
Very interesting to see what this product looks like that they have only on 1 or 2 planes, I believe. Definitely a better seat than European Business class. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your comment.
Yeah that was a really good seat, especially for such a short domestic flight on an airline that isn't known for their inflight amenities.
As far as I know, 4X-ABI is the only one in the fleet with those seats.
BTW, Israir doesn't sell those seats as business?
Yeah there's only 1 or 2 of them with the premium seats.
They don't sell them as business class but as premium seats, but with the same economy service (if there's any), but for a low price. 59 Shekels on the Eilat flights.