El Al Increases Beijing-Tel Aviv Flight Frequency

El Al Israel Airlines has announced that it will increase frequency of flights linking Beijing and Tel Aviv, to four a week from the previous three a week.

According to industry analysts, the move is aimed at meeting increasing demand from Chinese businessmen and tourists for travel to Israel. In August 2010, the number of tourists traveling to Israel jumped by 140% from a year earlier.

The new outbound flight LY098 uses Boeing 767 aircraft. It leaves Beijing every Thursday at 00:55 and arrives in Tel Aviv at 05:55 local time with a flight time of 11 hours. The return flight leaves the Tel Aviv every Wednesday at 07:25 local time and arrives in Beijing at 23:15 with a flight time of nine hours 55 minutes.

El Al launched the Tel Aviv to Beijing route in September 1992, with one flight a week. The carrier plans to increase its transportation capacity and is stepping up its marketing campaign, as it aims to lure more Chinese tourists to Israel.