TEL AVIV – Israel’s national carrier El Al will continue operating flights to the U.S., Europe and Africa out of “national responsibility,” the company’s CEO said Tuesday, despite a dramatic new self-quarantine measure imposed on all citizens and foreign nationals entering Israel.
“El Al sees it as critically important to maintain air routes to and from Israel during this time of emergency, and will therefore continue to operate flights to America, Europe and Africa,” Gonen Usishkin said, adding that the number of flights would be dictated by supply and demand.
A day earlier, the flagship carrier announced that it would delay the launch of new routes to Chicago, Dusseldorf and Tokyo until the summer.
El Al has canceled all flights to China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Italy, as well as many flights to other European nations.
Passengers who already purchased tickets for March travel are able to freeze them for the next year without charge, the company said.
On Monday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that anyone entering Israel from any other country will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Even before the announcement, El Al said it expects revenue to drop by $140-160 million for the period from January to April 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Last week, the carrier said it was forced to lay off some 20% of its workforce. It also requested government aid to keep afloat.
Israel on Sunday announced that it had earmarked $1.1 billion to help businesses that are failing because of coronavirus.
Two Israeli charter airlines, Arkia and Israir, said Monday that they will cease all international flights until further notice.
“This is a death blow. Israeli aviation will be no more — not Arkia, not El Al, not Israir,” Avi Nakash, an Arkia owner, told Channel 12 news.
The low-cost airline Wizz Air announced it was halting flights between Israel and Europe during March. German carrier Lufthansa and its subsidiaries Swiss Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines already announced they were suspending flights to Israel.
Ben Gurion Airport said Tuesday it would close half its main international terminal and reduce its workforce by 70 percent, calling it “Yom Kippur” mode. On Yom Kippur the airport shuts down.
Earlier in the week, the airport announced it had already shuttered Terminal 1.
“I am speechless. I’ve worked for the [airport] authority for over 40 years, and many of those have been as head of the union. We’ve never experienced anything like this, not during the Gulf War and not during the first and second intifadas,” Pinkhas Idan, who heads the workers union, said in an interview with Channel 12.
“There’s never been anything like this.”
“We’re waiting for a miracle,” he said.