El Al suspends Hong Kong, reduces Bangkok flights

El Al Boeing 787 Dreamliner  photo: PR
El Al Boeing 787 Dreamliner photo: PR

The Israeli carrier is also extending the suspension of Tel Aviv – Beijing flights until April 24, but Tokyo flights will go ahead as planned.

El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) has announced the suspension of flights on the Tel Aviv - Hong Kong route due to the coronavirus outbreak. This follows the Israeli carrier's suspension of Tel Aviv - Beijing flights one month ago and the reduction of the number of weekly Tel Aviv - Hong Kong flights. Flights to Hong Kong have been suspended until March 20 while the suspension to Beijing has now been extended until April 24.

At this stage El Al will continue flying from Tel Aviv to Bangkok but there will only be one daily flight instead of two. In two weeks, El Al is launching direct Tel Aviv - Tokyo flights and at this stage the three weekly flights will go ahead as scheduled.

El Al CEO Gonen Usishkin said, "We are following developments and reports from China on a daily basis and we hope that the cautious optimism expressed yesterday in the global media will be validated in the comning days. However, the company is making commercial adaptations regarding its flight schedule to East Asia and planes coming available will be rerouted to reinforce the flights schedule to North America and Europe, with an emphasis on the Passover period."

Yesterday El Al reported on the financial damage it expects to sustain because of the coronavirus. The airline sees a $30 million reduction in revenue in the first quarter of 2020.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 13, 2020

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020

El Al Boeing 787 Dreamliner  photo: PR
El Al Boeing 787 Dreamliner photo: PR
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