Sundor (, previously styled as Sun d'Or) is an Israeli airline brand and former airline with its base at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of El Al, which uses the brand mainly for seasonal scheduled and charter services, mostly to European destinations. All of their flights are operated by El Al, as Sundor's own license was suspended in 2011.
History
20th century Sundor was established on 1 October 1977 as El Al Charter Services Ltd., as a subsidiary of El Al 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 "Sundor - סאן דור" title.
In 1988, Sundor had its head office in the El Al House in Tel Aviv."World Airline Directory." Flight International. 26 March 1988. 117 .
21st century Since April 2001, Sundor 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, Sundor became a private company following the privatisation of El Al. The airline is licensed 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.
Sundor remained a fully owned subsidiary company of El Al 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 Sundor 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 Sundor. The airline had introduced a new look website and were to apply the same to their fleet as well.
In March 2011, The Israel Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced the suspension of Sundor's operating license effective 1 April 2011. The CAA based its decision citing non-compliance with Israeli and international airline management standards, mainly lack of self-owned planes and crew. Since then, Sundor no longer operates own aircraft but utilizes planes from its parent, El Al.
In May 2015, El Al confirmed it was in merger talks with its competitor Israir Airlines. While Sundor would be dissolved, El Al would gain shares in Israir instead.
Destinations
Sundor branded flights are operated by El Al to the following destinations as of January 2024:
Country City Airport Notes RefsTiranaTirana International Airport Nënë TerezaSalzburgSalzburg Airport W. A. MozartVarnaVarna AirportDubrovnikDubrovnik Ruđer Bošković AirportZagrebZagreb Franjo Tuđman AirportLarnacaLarnaca International Airport PaphosPaphos International Airport CopenhagenCopenhagen Airport, KastrupSharm El SheikhSharm El Sheikh International AirportLyonLyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport NiceNice Côte d'Azur AirportBatumiAlexander Kartveli Batumi International AirportTbilisiShota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport AthensAthens International Airport Eleftherios VenizelosHeraklionHeraklion International Airport "Nikos Kazantzakis"KefaloniaKefalonia International AirportMykonosMykonos AirportPreveza / LefkadaAktion National AirportRhodesRhodes AirportSitiaSitia Public AirportThessalonikiThessaloniki Airport "Makedonia" ThiraSantorini International AirportTel AvivDavid Ben Gurion AirportCagliariCagliari Elmas AirportCataniaCatania–Fontanarossa AirportNaplesNaples-Capodichino International AirportVeronaVerona Villafranca AirportChișinăuChișinău Eugen Doga International Airport PodgoricaPodgorica AirportTivatTivat AirportMarrakeshMarrakesh Menara AirportKrakówKraków John Paul II International AirportWarsawWarsaw Chopin Airport PortoFrancisco Sá Carneiro Airport BelgradeBelgrade Nikola Tesla Airport PiešťanyPiešťany AirportLjubljanaLjubljana Jože Pučnik Airport BaselMulhouseFreiburg EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg IstanbulIstanbul Airport
Fleet , the fleet operated under the Sundor brand consists of the following aircraft:
+ Sundor fleetAircraftIn serviceOrdersPassengersNotesBoeing 737-8007—189Operated by El Al. 3 leased from KlasJet.Total7—
References
External links
Official Sundor page on El AL website