Arkia Inland Airlines

  1949 to present

  Israel

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TYPE: Airline

IATA/ICAO CODES: IZ / AIZ

HEADQUARTERS: Tel Aviv, Israel

OTHER NAMES: Eilata Airlines (1949), Aviron (1949), Arkia Inland Airlines (1949-1980), Arkia Israeli Airlines (1980-present)

SUBSEQUENT NAME: Nil

Arkia was founded in late 1949 as Israel’s first local domestic airline. It was owned 50% by El Al and the balance by the Israeli Histadrut Labor Organization. The original name of the new airline was "Eilata", meaning "to Eilat", as this was going to be its main destination. However, as Transport Minister David Remez preferred names drawn from the Bible, it was changed in September 1950 to "Arkia", which translates as "I will soar" or more specifically as "I will go up to the Rakia" – the canopy of heaven. Thus both El Al and Arkia are Hebrew expressions that loosely translate as "to the skies".

Arkia’s first goal was to open an air service to Eilat, then a remote pioneer town at Israel’s southern tip on the Gulf of Aqaba leading to the Red Sea. This took a while because, at first, Arkia had no aircraft and Eilat lacked a suitable landing strip.  At the beginning of 1950, however, a reasonable runway paved out of rock & sand and a primitive terminal were built.

Using a Commando received from El Al, and with an El Al crew, Arkia’s official inaugural flight from Tel Aviv to Eilat took place on 28 February 1950.  This Commando, together with two smaller de Havilland Dragon Rapide obtained from the IAF, initially made up Arkia’s entire fleet. Flight time between Tel Aviv and Eilat was typically a little over one hour, whereas a road journey was impractical because only a primitive, often impassable, dirt road to existed at the time. Soon Arkia was bringing in food, water and machinery to Eilat’s settlers and construction workers. It also delivered newspapers and mail, and was the only practical means of evacuating the sick to Tel Aviv. Arkia’s activities thereby became the center of social life in Eilat. Flight frequency soon rose to at least two per week.

From this modest beginning, Arkia, while affiliated with El Al, later expanded to serve many destinations within Israel. Eilat developed into a major tourist resort with luxury hotels, and Arkia added successive types of more modern aircraft to serve the rising demand. In 1980, Arkia was sold to privately-owned Kanaf and its employees, and its name was changed to Arkia Israeli Airlines.

October 1949* to January 1956*

Arkia operated at least one Commando, probably in El Al colors.

• Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando: 4X-ACT / 4X-ALC