From Expecting chaos in flight schedules, El Al preparing to help Israelis around the world get home after flydubai incident
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel
Israel’s flagship carrier El Al is preparing to help Israelis abroad book flights to return home after Transportation Minister Miri Regev urged the government to stop all flydubai flights to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
Following this morning’s incident aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, in which the pilot was attacked amid an alleged attempt by the copilot to crash the plane, El Al says it received “numerous inquiries from Israelis abroad wishing to return home on El Al flights.”
“El Al will open a dedicated WhatsApp line later today for booking flights from any of its global destinations, including for those who traveled out of Israel with other airlines,” El Al says.
In parallel, the airline is preparing to operate a “special flight from Bangkok to Israel in the coming days to help Israelis currently in Thailand return home on an Israeli carrier.”
El Al shares rose more than 7 percent in afternoon trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange following the flydubai plane incident.
Dubai has become one of the top travel destinations for Israelis with flydubai operating eight daily flights from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. For many Israelis, Dubai International Airport has become a gateway to Asia, the Far East and the US.
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