The Israeli government has agreed to pay 80 percent of the security costs of the country’s airlines, Reuters reports. This  decision moves the amount up from the current 50 percent. The government also decided that Israel’s transportation minister will rule whether to open up certain routes to additional Israeli airlines, ending El Al’s exclusivity on those routes for scheduled flights.

The cabinet statement said that “the minister of transport will have the authority to grant designated carrier status on regular routes to other carriers, and the authority to revoke El Al’s designated carrier status on any route.”

Quoting an El Al statement, Globes says that El Al was happy with the decision and said that that it would enable Israeli airlines to cope with the increase in seating capacity, and the competition with foreign carriers – while increasing its financing of security costs of Israeli airlines to 80 percent.

“After months and months of deliberations, we have finally reached an agreement with El Al canceling its exclusivity in the Israeli flight market”, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz told the Jerusalem Post. 

“It’s a true revolution for the local consumer; we expect ticket prices to drop rapidly”, Mofaz said.

In other El Al news, Globes is reporting that El Al is suing two aircraft leasing companies, Legend International Air LLC, and Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management LLC, which, it claims, failed to abide by their agreement to sell it a Boeing 747-400 aircraft for $50 million.