The CEO of El Air Airlines informed the embattled company’s employees on Monday that the company will not be able to resume operations until it can approve the bailout agreement the finance ministry unveiled on Sunday.

“We will be unable to resume operations without reaching an agreement for a [governmental] loan, regardless of the state of the aviation industry, governmental decisions about reopening the skies and the resumption of flights to and from Ben-Gurion Airport by other airlines,” wrote El Al CEO Gonen Usishkin in his letter to company employees.

Usishkin, emphasizing that the loan is a prerequisite to flight resumption since the company cannot pay its debts without it, added that he has no choice but to extend the unpaid leave of El Al staff – 5,800 employees – until July 31.

El Al also announced on Sunday that it is extending its suspension of flights to and from Israel until June 30.

According to data published by Ben-Gurion Airport, there were a mere 18,197 passengers passing through its doors in May, a 99% reduction compared to May 2019, when 1.93 million people passed through the airport.

The United States was the most popular destination last month, with the majority of passengers, 36%, traveling from or to the US, most to or from Newark Airport on United Airlines.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)