"What we have done here is a breakthrough to huge new markets and this is a very big change," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the weekly cabinet meeting referring to Air India's maiden flight at the end of last week over Saudi Arabia en route between Delhi and Tel Aviv.
"The goal that I hope to reach is that the next flight or flights will also include direct flights from Tel Aviv to Mumbai in five hours," he added, "AFP" reports.
Netanyahu did not make it clear what carrier he had in mind but El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) already flies the Tel Aviv - Mumbai route and must circumvent Saudi Arabia, making the flight two hours longer. El Al is furious that Air India has been granted rights to fly over Air India while it hasn't and is protesting unfair competition to international organizations. El Al even plans petitioning Israel's Supreme Court on the matter.
It remains unclear whether Netanyahu has a diplomatic card up his sleeve on this matter, which might permit El Al to fly over Saudi Arabia.
At the same time Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin has been talking about negotiations with Singapore Airlines and Philippine Airlines for direct flights to Israel over Saudi Arabia.
However, Singapore Airlines told "Reuters" Singapore Airlines told "Reuters" it is not currently considering services to Israel. A spokesperson for Philippine Airlines said the company was not in any talks to launch a flight. "We are studying it, but not in the near future," the spokesperson said.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 25, 2018
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