The 'cheap' airline stock that beat world peers with a four-fold rally

Tel Aviv

AT first sight, investors have good reasons to shun El Al Israel Airlines shares.

The national carrier is grappling with a slump in tourism fuelled by political violence, as well as intensified competition after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government opened the market to low-cost operators in 2013. Yet the 1.41 billion shekel (S$510 million) company has a combination of factors in its favour: falling oil prices and the strength of the shekel.