The US administration is angry about the decision to prevent planes from landing in Israel • "This is a blatant violation of the aviation agreement between the countries" • The Ministry of Transportation will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow • The fear: more countries will follow the US, forcing Israel to reconsider
The US Department of Transportation has sent clear messages to the Israeli government that the decision not to allow American airlines to operate flights between the two countries, even if they are rescue flights, is a blatant violation of the aviation agreement between them.
More than 100 Israelis returned to Israel on a rescue flight from Dubai on Wednesday
According to reports published today (Saturday) in the American media, the Biden administration warned Israel that if the violation continues until the end of next week, the US will not allow EL AL planes to land in the country. Such a statement is very significant, as it could affect closed sky policy. In Israel, since the American airlines "United" and "Delta" are among the strongest companies in the world and among the most active foreign companies in the country.
As mentioned, El Al is the only airline that currently operates rescue flights on the Tel Aviv-New York route.
The company also operated a rescue flight from Dubai this week, and there is a high probability that it will operate another flight in the coming days, depending on demand.
Israir operates daily rescue flights from Frankfurt, and this week it also operated two rescue flights from Ukraine and Moldova.
Apart from these flights, there are no commercial flights of foreign airlines these days.
Currently, Ben Gurion Airport is closed for commercial activity until at least January 21.
Following the announcement, the Ministry of Transport intends to convene tomorrow to examine how to respond to dissatisfaction with the decision.
If Israel only allows American companies to operate flights to Israel, other countries are expected to join the protest and demand that their airlines also be allowed to operate flights to Israel.
On normal days, the two American airlines operate dozens of flights a month on routes between Israel and the United States. United Airlines was one of the only airlines that continued to fly to Israel even during the Corona crisis, while most airlines canceled their operations in Israel. "American Airlines", which currently does not operate in Israel, has already announced that it will operate direct flights on the Tel Aviv-Miami route for the coming summer.