Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair, is rumored to be preparing to officially announce entry to the Israeli market. It is understood that the airline will begin by launching flights to the Red Sea city of Eilat, Israel, in winter 2016.

The company will offer, for a period of 20 weeks, six weekly flights to Ovda International Airport from East European cities of Budapest, Krakow and Kaunas, Republic of Lithuania. It is further understood that the airline has applied to be permitted to fly from Cyprus to Israel.

The move by the low-cost carrier would further revolutionize the Israeli aviation market which is currently dominated by legacy carriers such as El Al. Other low-cost carriers have had successful experiences with Tel Aviv as a destination, among them Easyjet, Germanwings, Air Berlin, and TUIfly. In an effort to develop European tourism to Eilat in particular, the Israel Ministry of Tourism is offering a financial incentive to aviation companies that will operate direct flights into Ovda International Airport, which serves Eilat, during the upcoming winter season.
 

Realizing that a financial incentive for airlines was needed in order to increase the numbers of direct flights into Ovda, the Ministry has published a new directive that guarantees €45 per-passenger financial incentive to airlines for every passenger arriving in Eilat.

The program is valid for the period between the Jewish holidays of Succot 2015 and Passover 2016 (from the last week of September 2015 and through the third week of April 2016), for up to 80,000 tourists. The directive is addressed to aviation companies, tourism wholesalers and any other tourism entity that will operate charter or scheduled flights into Ovda from any international destination.