Israeli airline stocks surge nearly 9% following flydubai hijacking incident

Israir also reported severe loss of value in its stock over the last month, falling from NIS 1.60 on September 9 to NIS 1.44 reported on Tuesday, just before the recent jump registered on Wednesday.

Israir and El Al stocks recorded an almost 9% rise on Wednesday following the flydubai situation regarding a flight that was diverted to Saudi Arabia while on its way to Tel Aviv from Dubai after one of the pilots attempted to hijack and crash the plane.

Israir opened at NIS 1,45 and reached a high of NIS 1,58, with its current variation at the time of writing at 8.8%. El Al rose from NIS 1,74 to NIS 1,85, a 7,9% gain.

Israir also reported a severe loss of value in its stock over the last month, falling from NIS 1,60 on September 9 to NIS 1,44 reported on Tuesday, just before the recent jump registered on Wednesday.

El Al’s stock was more stable, with a steady increase over the last month after major falls between March and August that brought it to a low of NIS 1,2 per share.

Now El Al reports an all-time high in its current valuation, while the market capitalization estimates that the company is valued at NIS 10 billion with the latest rise in the stock, according to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange report.

Flydubai, a state-owned company, didn’t suffer in its valuation because it isn't publicly traded.

Flydubai pilot attempts terror hijacking of flight to Tel Aviv

A flydubai flight, which was going from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was diverted to and landed in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday morning after what Israeli officials said was an attempted hijacking by one of the pilots that led to a mid-air altercation.

An Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post a “major disaster was narrowly avoided” amid growing fears that one of the pilots attempted to hijack the plane with the intention of crashing it into the ground. Additional flight crew, aided by Israelis on board the flight, managed to subdue the pilot and bring him under control, the official told the Post.

A flydubai spokesperson later confirmed that its onboard crew successfully secured the aircraft following a flight deck "altercation," noting that the "underlying reasons and motives behind this event remain unknown and are subject to a formal investigation."

The growing assessment among the Israeli security establishment, including the IDF, Mossad, and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), is that the incident was intended as an act of terror. During the altercation, the aircraft plunged about 4,000 meters, the official noted.

Amichai Stein, Yonah Jeremy Bob, and James Genn contributed to this report.