Israeli flagship airline El Al extends suspension of most flights until March end

Israel's leading airline El Al announced on Monday that most of its employees will remain on unpaid leave at least until March 31.

JERUSALEM, 

Israel's leading airline El Al announced on Monday that most of its employees will remain on unpaid leave at least until March 31. This means the company has extended the suspension of most of its flights to the end of March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

El Al stopped regular flights in late March, 2020, about a month after the outbreak of the pandemic in Israel, and has since postponed the resumption of most flights several times. The company will not be able to operate most of the flights at least until March 6, after the Israeli government on Thursday extended the closure of Ben Gurion International Airport for most inbound and outbound flights.

This restriction, which took effect on January 26, came across the fear of the spread of the new COVID-19 strains. Of the airline's 5,245 employees who are currently on unpaid leave, about 2,000 are due to be laid off as part of the company's streamlining agreement with the Israeli Ministry of Finance, as a condition for receiving a state-guarantee for a 300-million-U.S.-dollar loan.

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