El Al may close down its weekly air service to Mexico which it says has lost about $2 million a year since it was inaugurated two years ago. The reasons are insufficient traffic and high costs, according to a report in Yediot Achronot today.
But the national air carrier will make no final decision before consulting the government because of the political ramifications involved. The Mexico service was established both to stimulate tourism with that country and as a gesture of good will after a period when Israeli-Mexican relations were strained over the latter’s anti-Israel votes in the United Nations.
But the line has been operating at only 34 percent of capacity. It cost the company $4.6 million to maintain during the last fiscal year, due partly to the need to fly a special staff to New York and from there to Montreal which is the stop-over point on Tel Aviv-Mexico City flights.
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