Israeli flag-carrier El Al announced on Friday that it will discontinue its Tel Aviv to Johannesburg route amid South Africa’s ongoing genocide case against Israel in the Hague.
The airline attributed its decision to a steep decline in demand by Israeli travellers since the war with Hamas as well as Pretoria’s case against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The change will come into effect at the end of March with the final flight from Tel Aviv to Johannesburg set to depart on 27 March, according to the airline’s website.
“Israelis don’t want to fly to South Africa,” an El Al spokesperson told The Times of Israel. “They are cancelling flights and planes are pretty empty… We understand it’s the situation because it was different before.”
“The fact that the Israelis don’t want to go to South Africa but do want to go to other places helps us decide that we’re pausing that route,” the spokesperson said.
