Arie Egozi/TEL AVIV
El Al is trying to foil an Israeli Government plan to open up the country's air cargo market to another local carrier, claiming that the move would threaten its revenue as it prepares for privatisation.
El Al is the only Israeli airline with a licence to operate cargo flights and the business represents almost one-third of its revenue. The carrier's monopoly is now looking threatened, as the Israeli transport ministry has formed a special committee to evaluate the air freight market with the intention of granting licences to another Israeli cargo airline. CAL - Cargo Air Lines, which is owned by the Israeli agricultural organisations, has a licence to operate agricultural cargo flights to Europe, but it uses El Al's 747-200 freighters.
Activity in the Israeli air cargo market has grown rapidly. The majority of the foreign airlines operating scheduled passenger services to Tel Aviv bring freight in to Israel in their cargo holds. A few airlines, such as KLM and British Airways, operate dedicated cargo aircraft to the country. FedEx operates a 727 on the Tel Aviv-Paris route, with UPS planning to follow.
El Al sources claim that the air cargo market is saturated and that approval of a second Israeli cargo carrier will result in a fierce price war that will harm all the airlines shipping cargo to and from Israel.
"On one hand the Government plans to privatise us and, on the other hand, it damages our market value," says an El Al source, adding that, in the "golden share" which the Government prepared, it requires El Al to operate at least four 747 freighters for national emergencies.
Source: Flight International
