Sun d'Or International Airlines
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| Founded | 1977 | |||
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| Ceased operations | 1 April 2011 merged with El Al | |||
| Hubs | Ben Gurion Int'l Airport | |||
| Frequent-flyer program | Matmid | |||
| Fleet size | 3 | |||
| Destinations | 27 (fleet and destinations now serviced by El Al) | |||
| Parent company | El Al Israel Airlines Limited | |||
| Headquarters | Tel Aviv, Israel | |||
| Key people | Bezalel Karvat, President | |||
| Website | http://www.sundor.co.il/ | |||
Sun d'Or International Airlines Limited (Hebrew: סאן דור) was an Israeli airline with its hub at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport. It operated scheduled and charter flights.It was a fully owned subsidiary of El Al Israel Airlines and operated regular, ad hoc, and seasonal passenger charters using aircraft leased from El Al. The airline was licenced for the commercial transport of passengers and cargo on charter flights to and from Israel and owned an Air Operator Certificate to operate two leased planes that were fully serviced by El Al's maintenance. Most of the airlines services were between Tel Aviv and European destinations. As of March 2012, all Sun d'Or's flights are operated by El Al under Sun d'Or, Arkia and Israir brand.
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[edit] History
Sun d'Or was established on 1 October 1977 as El Al Charter Services Ltd., as a subsidiary of El Al Israel Airlines at a time when the airline was fully owned by the State. The airline changed its name in 1981 to Sun D’Or (D’Or means "of Gold" in French), and soon after, Uriel Yashiv, the CEO of the airline at the time, chose to add "International Airlines" to the airline's name to create Sun D'Or International Airlines. This additional qualification is not used in Hebrew, however, and both aircraft flown by the company bear solely the "Sun D'Or - סאן דור" title.
In 1988 Sun d'Or had its head office in the El Al House in Tel Aviv.[1]
Since April 2001, Sun D'Or had grown to become a significant player in the Israeli charter market. The airline also operated flights for incoming tourists, on behalf of European and Israeli operators. In January 2005, Sun D'Or became a private company following the privatisation of El Al.
Sun D’Or International Airlines remained a fully owned subsidiary company of El Al Israel Airlines and as such its passengers could take advantage of this association. Benefits included the ability for passengers to accumulate El Al frequent flyer points on Sun D'Or flights, and the supplying of food including all types of special meals through Tamam-Catering, an El-Al Subsidiary. El Al also provided ground services, air crews and aircraft for Sun D'Or.
In March 2011, The Israel Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced the suspension of Sun D'Or's operating license effective April 1, 2011. The CAA based its decision citing non-compliance with Israeli and international airline management standards, mainly lack of self-owned planes and crew.[2]
The airline had introduced a new look website and were to apply the same to their fleet as well.[3]
[edit] Destinations
Sun d'Or continues to operate as a charter brand for El Al and sells tickets for flights operated for them by El Al, their website lists the following services at May 2011 [4], they offer additional destinations too not listed at the site:
- Belarus
- Croatia
- Zagreb - Zagreb Airport *
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Israel
- Italy
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Lisbon - Lisbon Airport *
- Slovakia
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Lithuania
* denotes seasonal
[edit] Fleet
All operations are now carried out by El Al fleet.
- Previous fleet
Sun D'Or International Airlines fleet consisted of 4 Boeing 757-200 at closure on 31 March 2011.[5]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 26 March 1988. 117.
- ^ "Israel's Sun D'Or has operating licence withdrawn". http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/03/20/354557/israels-sun-dor-has-operating-licence-withdrawn.html.
- ^ Sun d'Or Boeing 757 featuring a modified new look in Berlin special fare promotional
- ^ Sun d'Or routes
- ^ Sun d'Or fleet list at ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2009-11-27
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