Air Canada (Nasdaq: ACNAF; TSE: AC) has decided to resume regular flights to Israel. Since the war in Iraq broke out, Air Canada flights to Israel have landed in Larnaca, Cyprus, where the crews were replaced, and the pilots and flight attendants housed in local hotels.
Toronto-Tel Aviv flights will henceforth be direct, and the crews will stay in Israel. As Air Canada decided at the beginning of the confrontation with the Palestinians, however, the crew will stay in Herzliya, not Tel Aviv.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (NYSE: KLM) today announced that it would charge a new war levy of $0.10 per kg on all cargoes flown to the Middle East and Asia. The company is already charging passengers a $10 per flight fuel levy, as of April 2003.
KLM will not carry out its flights to Israel in the next two weeks, until April 8. Despite its promise to grant refunds to passengers for canceled flights, the company said today that from now on, it would “try to find alternative flights passengers whose flights were canceled.” KLM has cut back its destinations by 7%, including the elimination of flights to Israel, Oman, and Kuwait.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on March 25, 2003