JERUSALEM, Sept. 25 -- The Israeli Transport Ministry has granted an operating license to Air Haifa, a new airline scheduled to start flights on Monday, according to a joint statement issued by the ministry and the airline on Wednesday.

The low-cost airline, based in Haifa, is Israel's fourth commercial airline and its first new one in over 30 years.

Air Haifa plans to operate flights from northern Israel's Haifa to the country's southernmost Red Sea resort city of Eilat and the Cypriot coastal city of Larnaca.

However, due to the security situation in northern Israel, the carrier's inaugural flights to Eilat, scheduled to depart from Haifa Airport on Monday, will be launched from Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel, instead.

According to the statement, if the security situation allows and relevant authorities approve, flights from Haifa to Eilat are expected on October 13, with the Haifa-Larnaca route commencing a day after.

  - Xinhua