30/07/10, 05:43:03 EDT

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Britain, Israel reach deal to increase London-Tel Aviv flights

iht.com

LONDON: Britain and Israel reached an agreement Tuesday for each country to allow a second airline to fly the London-Tel Aviv route.

Currently only British Airways and El Al make such commercial flights.

"We welcome this agreement, which is an important step forward in liberalizing the air-services market between the U.K. and Israel," Britain's Department for Transport said in a statement. "Over the next few months, we expect there will be more routes and flights to Israel, which is good news for passengers and the wider economy."

The Israeli Transportation Ministry called the agreement "a significant step toward opening the skies to competition."

Britain's Department for Transport said bmi is the only British airline that has expressed interest in competing with BA on the route, and bmi announced that it plans to start daily, nonstop service next spring.

"We are delighted that there has been a successful outcome to the inter-government negotiations allowing the designation of a second U.K. airline. We will be applying to be designated immediately," said Nigel Turner, the chief executive of bmi, the second largest airline operating at Heathrow airport in London.

"I congratulate both the U.K. and Israeli governments in recognizing the need to bring wider competition to air travel between the two countries," he said.

The launch of the new service will bring the total number of destinations operated by bmi from Heathrow to 39.

The Israeli Transportation Ministry said it has not yet chosen a second Israeli airline for the London-Tel Aviv route.

 Printable Version  | published Sep 11, 2007