Palestinian Airlines


Palestinian Airlines is an airline based in Arish, Egypt, which is completely owned by the Palestinian Authority but not recognized by the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation. It stopped its operations in 2005 but resumed service in May 2012. Its current base is El Arish International Airport. Palestinian Airlines is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization.

History

The airline was established on 1 January 1995 and started operations in June 1997, with series of charter flights carrying pilgrims to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The flights were operated from Port Said, in northern Egypt. Scheduled services began on 23 July 1997, operating from Arish to Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Palestinian Airlines transferred its base to Gaza following the opening of the airport in November 1998 and added a number of new routes in the region. The airline was grounded in October 2000 following the start of the Al-Aqsa Intifada and was forced to move to El Arish International Airport in December 2001, after destruction of the runway by the Israelis in a bombing campaign at its previous base Yasser Arafat International Airport, where it operated limited services. It is wholly owned by the Palestinian Authority; and employs 398 employees.

Destinations

Palestinian Airlines serves the following destinations as of May 2019:
;Egypt
;Jordan
;Saudi Arabia
From their former base in Gaza, Palestinian Airlines had also served Bahrain, Larnaca, Kuwait, Doha, Damascus, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Fleet

Palestinian Airlines' fleet consisted of the following aircraft. As of May 2019, both of Palestinian Airlines aircraft are leased to Niger Airlines.:
AircraftTotalOrdersComments
Fokker 502—Both leased to Niger Airlines

They had previously operated two Bombardier Dash 8-300s and an Ilyushin Il-62. Palestinian Airlines had also ordered two Bombardier CRJ-200, that were never delivered to the carrier.