Aviation sources inform ''Globes'' that El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) will shortly announce the closing of its route from Tel Aviv to Chicago via Toronto on April 19. The decision to close the route was taken because it failed to attract a large number of passengers, although the planes were far from empty.
The Tel Aviv-Chicago route was popular among Israeli and foreign passengers because of the time saved in flight and because the short stopover in Toronto did not require going through passport control and customs.
An aviation source told “Globes”, “The business goal is to maximize seat occupancy rates. If the criteria set for this cannot be achieved, it’s worthwhile for an airline to cancel the route, even if it does not lose money, and use the planes on routes with higher occupancy rates.”
Tourism sources said the cancellation could hurt tourist arrivals from large metropolitan centers in the US Midwest, even though travellers will still have other options for flights between Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Ben Gurion Airport. The sources said that Air Canada would fill the void El Al leaves behind on the route.
The sources added that code-sharing agreements between El Al and US airlines will enable El Al passengers to make follow-on flights from New York. El Al may also sign more code-sharing agreements in order to increase the number of destinations.
El Al North America general manager Michael Meyer, declined to comment, but El Al’s New York spokeswoman said that the airline views the US as a vital destination and that it was expanding and improving service to various destinations in North America.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on January 31, 2007
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007