El Al cancels European flights as coronavirus hits airline hard

"As a result of special circumstances due to the coronavirus incident, we have been forced to make commercial adjustments on certain flights."

By EYTAN HALON
The first of Israel's El Al Airlines order of 16 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets lands at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv (photo credit: REUTERS)
The first of Israel's El Al Airlines order of 16 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets lands at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv
(photo credit: REUTERS)
El Al canceled a series of flights to European destinations on Monday, citing the need for “commercial adjustments” due to declining demand caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“As a result of special circumstances due to the coronavirus incident, including instructions and recommendations made by the Health Ministry to the public, we have been forced to make commercial adjustments on certain flights,” the airline said. “In this context, we are offering alternatives for travel on other flights. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”
Passengers scheduled to fly on several flights to destinations including Vienna, Budapest, Brussels and Frankfurt were among those affected by the cancellations.
Bearing the brunt of the outbreak, El Al is preparing a plan to layoff up to a thousand of the company’s 6,300 permanent and temporary staff. Last week, the airline said it expects revenues to drop by $50 million to $70m. between January and April as a result of the outbreak.
The carrier has already canceled all flights to China, Hong Kong and Italy, and is facing falling demand across its network. The scheduled launch of a nonstop route to Tokyo on March 11 has also been postponed. In an initial move to cut costs on Sunday, El Al fired 50 trainee pilots and an additional 14 pilots waiting to begin their training at the company.
According to Health Ministry instructions, a two-week home quarantine period is required from all Israeli nationals who visited Mainland China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, South Korea, Japan or Italy in the last 14 days. Last week, the Health Ministry called on Israelis to reconsider all foreign travel.
At an emergency meeting on Sunday, El Al workers union chairman Sharon Ben-Yitzhak told employees that Israel’s response to the coronavirus outbreak had dealt “a deathblow to the aviation sector.”
Describing the company’s workforce as “soldiers of the country,” Ben-Yitzhak called on the government – which holds a “golden share” in the airline – to support the livelihoods of thousands of Israeli households.
El Al announced on Sunday it would allow all passengers scheduled to fly to and from Europe during March to change or freeze their tickets until July 31 without incurring fees.