Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair Ltd. (ISEQ: RYA, LSE: RYA, NASDAQ: RYAAY) is considering initiating flights between Ben Gurion Airport and Krakow in Poland, to serve the high demand for educational trips to Auschwitz and other former death camps by Israeli students.
At a press conference earlier this week, Ryanair deputy CEO Howard Millar said that the airline had been mulling flights to Israel for some time but was deterred by Israel's restrictive aviation policy. However, the situation changed last month when the Israeli cabinet approved the EU's open skies agreement in attempts to increase air traffic to and from Europe.
Millar said, "It seems that every Israeli child has to go to Poland to go and see Auschwitz. We can help them with that,"
Ryanair has been handed estimates that 25,000 Israeli teenagers visit former concentration camps in Europe annually on education trips.
Ryanair said it will still be some time before it launches flights between the UK and Israel.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 23, 2013
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