Some of the El Al's cargo aircraft are being prevented from being operated with full payloads on flights from the USA to Israel as five European countries are not allowing the Israeli airline's Boeing 747s to land for refuelling if they carry arms.
Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK have banned the airline from making technical stops for fuel. According to El Al pilots' representative captain Itay Regev, the restriction forces the airline to use only part of the 747's capability: "We are loading them with around 50t of cargo instead the 100t plus that they can carry," he says.
Source: Flight International
