Israeli airline announces intention to stop flights to Cairo

GAZA, Sept 16 (KUNA) -- El Al Israel Airline announced on Sunday its intention to stop flights to the Egyptian capital Cairo because of heavy financial losses, incurred by the company for the first time since signing the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in the 1990s.
Israel radio said the company manager, Eliezer Shkedi, said in a letter to Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman "the costs of running this line, especially the cost of security, reaches hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly, while very few passengers use the airline from and to Cairo". Shkedi added that "if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thought it should continue running this line, they must specify the government department that will bear the resulting costs." The radio quoted a source from the Israeli Foreign Ministry as saying that "the conduct of the air route to Cairo shows the relations with Egypt," warning of political implications of the decision to stop the flights, stressing that "it's for Israel's interest to continue running this line." The radio said Israeli Transportation Minister Katz might assign another airlines company to run flights to Cairo. (end) mtz.ss KUNA 161355 Sep 12NNNN