Lior Yavor, senior vice president of operations of El Al Israel Airlines (TASE: ELAL), said this afternoon that unless there was a change for the worse in state of the volcanic ash cloud overnight, he expected that his airline would restore flights tomorrow to Bucharest, Kiev, Sofia, Munich, Berlin, Budapest, Barcelona, Warsaw, Marseilles, and Milan. In addition, El Al continues to put on more flights to Rome, Madrid, and Athens, with the aim of bringing as many Israelis as possible home for Memorial Day and Independence Day.
El Al's announcement came despite the fact that the aviation authorities in Europe had not yet announced whether airports that have been closed would be reopened. Eventually, Eurocontrol announced this evening that the airports Bucharest, Sofia, Kiev, Munich, Berlin, Barcelona, and Milan would open tomorrow morning. Budapest, Warsaw, and Marseilles are not on Eurocontrol's list.
The flights expected to depart tomorrow will be for passengers with tickets for tomorrow, and not for passengers whose flights have been cancelled in the past few days.
El Al said that anyone whose flight was cancelled and who wanted to fly tomorrow was welcome to contact the airline's help desk. Passengers have been requested not to leave home until it is confirmed that their flights will depart.
In the light of the improvement in the meteorological forecast and the reopening of several European airports, Israir also announced this evening that it would resume some flights tomorrow to Nice, Moscow, and Berlin.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 18, 2010
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