In the wake of yesterday's exclusive report in "Globes," a shortage of trained flight security personnel is causing Israeli airlines to cancel flights.
Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd. and ISSTA Lines (TASE: ISTA) today announced that they were being forced to cancel international flights planned to take off from Haifa Airport this summer because of a lack of personnel. The flights were designated for package tours in the Mediterranean basin.
The party responsible for the security of the Israeli airlines on international flights is the security department at El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL), which operates according to orders from the Israel Security Agency. Complaints about a shortage of personnel in this segment have been heard for some time, and the problem is now being aggravated by budget disputes with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is responsible for security matters at some overseas airports, and therefore provides authorization for the Israeli airlines.
Israir CEO Uri Sirkis said, "The situation of the Israeli airlines is simply bizarre. The Ministry of Transport is opening the skies to foreign airlines and the Ministry of Tourism and the Israel Hotel Association are paying diverse incentives to foreign airlines to fly to Israel, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the security department are closing the routes of the Israeli airlines because of disputes between them. If someone does not straighten up soon, the damage to passengers and the Israeli airlines will be destructive."
ISSTA VP marketing Ronen Carasso said, "Last year, we developed international traffic from Haifa with the Ministry of Transport's encouragement. Many resources were invested in order to make things easier for residents of the north and the outlying areas. The routes from Haifa were a big success, and tens of thousands of passengers from northern Israel saved money and time through these flights. I am convinced that the skies from Haifa cannot be closed, and that prompt action by the Ministry of Transport will save the airport, to the benefit of residents of northern Israel."
El Al, which is responsible for security, said in response, "As the security department at El Al notified all the Israeli airlines ahead of time, as long as the problem of the personnel shortage resulting from the rapid increase in the number of flights operated by the Israeli airlines caused by the open skies policy remains unsolved with the relevant government ministries, the security department will be unable to authorize the requests by the Israeli airlines for the 2018 summer flight schedule. In this context, not a single flight from overseas to Israel in the summer of 2018 has been approved or refused - not to Haifa, and not to any other airport. We emphasize that El Al security is not responsible for security activity at airports in Israel; it is only responsible for security for flights by Israeli airlines from overseas to Israel."
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on January 24, 2018
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