On March 13, the inaugural flight of the Israeli airline Sun d'Or took place, connecting Tel Aviv to Oporto. Sun d'Or is a subsidiary of El Al, Israel's national airline.
This is a seasonal operation between March and October, with two flights per week.
The President of Turismo Porto e Norte, Luís Pedro Martins, declared to Jornal de Notícias: “We are committed to attracting long-haul markets, a goal for which the arrival of a company from Israel is an important step. These high purchasing power markets are key to increasing income. These tourists stay longer and travel more throughout the destination”.
The report states that in 2022 the north of Portugal received more than 41,000 tourists from Israel, placing the country as the 13th international outbound market. For the CEO of Sun d'Or, Gal Gershon, the non-stop flight between the two cities is due to the interest of the Israelis in the Portuguese market, nature, landscape and varied places.
