El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) this morning that it is demanding equal terms on flights between Israel and India.
At present, El Al's Tel Aviv - Mumbai route offers travelers the only direct flights between Israel and India. But yesterday, Air India officially announced that it is launching Tel Aviv - Delhi flights on March 22 and has been granted permission to fly over Saudi Arabia. As an Israeli carrier, El Al is not permitted to fly over Saudi Arabia, adding two hours to flights to India.
El Al believes that Air India's new route represents a precedent that provides foreign carriers with a major advantage and prevents equal and fair competition. This advantage, which may be given to other foreign airlines, is likely to harm the company's operations to an extent that cannot be assessed at this stage.
El Al has asked the Israeli government and international organizations to ensure that El Al will also be allowed to fly to India on the shorter route, or alternatively that Air India will be compelled to take the current route that El Al is permitted.
Air India is charging about $700 return fare for its new Tel Aviv - Delhi route.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 8, 2018
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