Tourism from the United States is expected to increase as a result of the approval by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) of an application by El Al to provide discount fares between New York and Tel Aviv that are 50 percent below normal economy fares, according to Israel Zuriel, Israel’s Commissioner for Tourism in the U.S. and Canada. The CAB approval last Friday was in line with an agreement Israel and the U.S. signed in Washington earlier this month.
The new fare for economy rates are $655 for round trips in peak season and $545 during the basic season, as compared with regular economy fares of $1330 and $1194. Similar fares are expected to be approved by Israel for TWA, the American carrier that flies between New York and Tel Aviv.
Zuriel said that the new reduced air transportation cost to Israel will herald a new era in American tourism to the country. He noted that 17 percent more Americans visited Israel in the first six months of 1978 over the first half of 1977, and the new lower airfares are expected to further enlarge this increase. Zuriel added that the other major effect of the U.S.-Israel agreement is that charter flights will be permitted from all parts of the U.S. to Israel effective Nov. I. Hitherto, charter flights were only permitted to Israel from the West Coast.
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