El Al to continue operating Cairo flights through January

The company agreed to extend the flights for a month after the Transportation Ministry “appealed to us on Sunday”. El Al Israel Airlines was due to end its Cairo service on Dec. 31
 
El Al Israel Airlines agreed last week to continue operating its flights to Cairo until the end of January 2007. In a press release issued early last week the company said that it agreed: "to extend the flights for a month after the Transportation Ministry appealed to us on Sunday".
 
The announcement came shortly after a meeting held between Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz with Salah Nabhan, El Al's representative in Cairo.
 
El Al Israel Airlines was due to end its Cairo service on December 31, having notified the government in August that it would stop flying the route due to the heavy security costs involved in keeping the line open. The airline shares the security costs equally with the government.
 
Both men said after the meeting that: "It is in Israel's national interest to continue El Al scheduled flights to Cairo and therefore both countries should do the utmost to guard this important component of the peace agreement between the two countries".
 
Transportation Ministry spokesperson that following Sunday's meeting with Nabhan that Minister Mofaz would appeal to the Finance Ministry to consider the provision of much heavier subsidy to cover at least 75% of the security costs on the route for one year. It was noted that such subsidy will drop the airline's security cost to 25% and will encourage El Al to continue to fly to Cairo.