Banking & Finance Israel’s El Al Airlines sells 20% of its frequent flier programme By Reuters September 14, 2022 Creative Commons In March, El Al signed a non-binding deal for a $130 million loan from Phoenix and put up its frequent flier club as loan collateral. Israeli insurer Phoenix has exercised an option to buy roughly 20 percent of El Al Israel Airlines’ frequent flier programme, the companies said in a Tel Aviv regulatory filing on Tuesday. El Al, Israel’s flag carrier, will receive $14 million and own 80.1 percent of its frequent flier programme and it said it would post a gain of about $63 million in its third-quarter financial results. El Al noted that following the deal, it would no longer need to raise additional capital. In March, cash strapped El Al signed a non-binding deal for a $130 million loan from Phoenix and put up its Matmid frequent flier club as collateral for the loan. Phoenix received an option to buy 25 percent of Matmid by the end of 2027. On Sunday, El Al said it plans to repay a $45 million loan that it took from the government during the COVID-19 pandemic by the end of the year amid improvement in the travel landscape.
