Today, nine years after leaving Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion Airport, the McDonald's fast food chain launched a new branch on the site. McDonald's already has a branch at Terminal 1, which serves mainly low-cost airlines.
The new branch will be kosher, even though it will be open 24/7, including on the Sabbath. The branch will sell hamburgers, in contrast to the branch launched in Terminal 1 several weeks ago, which is barred by the tender terms from selling hamburgers.
The branch opened today contains independent payment stations spread around the terminal, so that passengers and employees there can make remote orders and collect them from the branch. Cash points have also been placed next to 22 McTouch machines for those who prefer paying in cash. At this stage, payment must be made in shekel notes and coins, but the machines will later also accept dollar and euro notes.
One of the noticeable trends in the civil aviation industry, which is spreading to more and more airlines, is elimination of inflight meals. What was once confined to low-cost airlines is now spreading to other airlines. For example, food is not served on Air Europa's flights from Tel Aviv to Madrid, unless paid for. Airport restaurants are preparing for this by offering food packages for flights. The new McDonald's branch will also offer takeaway packages opening into two trays for convenient inflight eating. Another McDonald's branch will soon be opened in the Shakim Hall in Terminal 3.
McDonald's will also soon be joined by another hamburger chain - Moses, which will open a branch in Terminal 3 in place of Schmoozy Bar near the children's stores in the duty-free area. Schmoozy Bar has already closed down for renovations, and will be replaced by a branch of the Moses chain that will undoubtedly be more of a restaurant than a fast food outlet a la McDonald's.
At the same time, within the James Richardson store, preparations are being made for the mandatory change, starting on January 8. The store will have to conceal its cigarettes and smoking products from shoppers. Cigarette packs will disappear from the shelves, and will be supplied to shoppers only upon request. This change follows the third stage of legislation aimed at reducing smoking. Cigarette packs and tobacco products will have to issued in a uniform color described as the "ugliest in the world," and the health warning will be enlarged to cover 65% of the cigarette pack's area.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 1, 2020
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