i24 News Israel’s cabinet approved additional state aid to help bail out airlines suffering a blow due to the spread of the omicron Covid variant, the Finance Ministry said Sunday.
Total state aid would not exceed $85 million for all Israel’s carriers in the form of three-year bonds which do not accrue interest. This is similar to a $41 million package produced in November.
Israel’s airlines — El Al, Arkia, and Israir — were hit hard during the pandemic as the country’s borders were largely closed to foreign tourists.
Earlier this month, Israel began admitting foreigners who were either vaccinated or recovered from Covid, doing away with the “red list” of destinations deemed off-limits to Israeli citizens.
With the omicron variant pushing infection rates within Israel to new highs, restrictions on travel were seen as moot. However, omicron has still dented travel.
“The spread of omicron in the world and in Israel has caused a significant drop in the activities of Israeli airlines,” the statement from the Finance Ministry said.
“The finance and transportation ministries have worked intensively to formulate an additional blueprint to enable those companies to weather the crisis.”
In September, El Al requested $100 million from the Israeli government as compensation for strict travel policies as the airline reported losses for three years, racking up debt to renew its fleet.
It laid off 1,900 employees — nearly one-third of its staff — as part of a recovery plan mandated by the government to receive a $210 million aid package last year and reduced its fleet to 29 from 45, Reuters reported.
