El Al has announced it will resume its flights to Eilat on Thursday, after grounding them earlier this week due to a newly imposed landing route by the Civil Aviation Authority. The authority gave El Al two more weeks to fly to Eilat using the normal route.
Fearing rocket attacks or attempts at shooting down Israeli civilian airliners from the bordering Sinai Peninsula, the authority decided earlier this week to alter the landing route for all planes arriving at Eilat Airport. El Al announced on Tuesday that all jet-engine flights to Eilat were being canceled in light of safety concerns over the new guidelines.
CAA Director Giora Rom said his decision to allow El Al to continue flying the normal route came "solely out of concern for the El Al passengers who had already purchased tickets." The two-week extension was approved by the defense establishment.
El Al praised the CAA's decision.
"We are happy to be able to continue flying the original route [to Eilat]," El Al said in a statement. "Unfortunately, despite our appeals earlier this week, we only received permission now, but better now than never. Contrary to the CAA's announcement, El Al does not need time to prepare [for the new route] but rather needs to evaluate if the route is safe for jet-engine travel, something on which the company is not willing to compromise. El Al will return to flying the original route to Eilat as soon as possible."
The workers' union leader for rival airline Arkia, Yigal Cohen, wrote a letter to Transportation, National Infrastructure and Road Safety Minister Yisrael Katz on Wednesday, calling El Al's flight security concerns a excuse.
"It is a winning strategy," Cohen wrote. He said the public would never argue against an airliner's safety concerns, but in fact, El Al wanted to cancel the flight out of lack of profitability.
El Al responded to Cohen's letter by saying that its entry into the domestic flight market to Eilat was good for consumers, increasing competition and lowering ticket prices.
The Transportation Ministry also released a statement on the matter, saying: "We will continue promoting competition between airliners to the benefit of the Israeli citizens, which today enjoy a larger array of flights to Eilat at lower prices."