Israel's Ministry of Transport has signed new air transport agreements with 10 countries. During 2018, new direct air routes between Israel and Chile and Brazil will be inaugurated as well as a wide range of new direct flights between Israel and Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia, Jordan, Canada, China and other countries.
The new air transport agreements were signed during the annual conference of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) last week in Sri Lanka. The agreements were signed with Switzerland, Chile, South Africa, Vietnam, Canada, Dominican Republic, Uganda, Tanzania, Jordan and the UK (for when the UK leaves the EU). The Israeli delegation also held talks with Laos and Rwanda and hopes to sign air transport agreement with them in the near future.
Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz said that the agreements, which were signed as part of the Open Skies agreement, will allow direct flights between Israel and more destinations as well as an increased number of flights on existing routes. The agreements will also enable El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) to sign code-sharing deals with more carriers.
Katz said, "Implementation of the new agreements will lead to an improved level of service of flights to and from Israel and increased competitiveness of between airlines as well as lower fares and more passenger and cargo traffic coming to Israel."
Katz added that implementation of the final phase of the Open Skies policy with the EU will allow for increased frequency of flights between Israel and Europe. In addition agreements with Russia, Ukraine and Georgia have been revised in order to allow for more direct flights.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 1, 2018
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