Brussels Airlines is resuming flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday, with flights arriving from Frankfurt and Munich. But the unions representing its ground staff is demanding that baggage handlers be relieved of their duties for “moral reasons.”
They called on the airline “not to resume flights until the genocide in Gaza and the ‘West Bank’ has stopped.”
The joint trade union front for baggage airport service provider Alyzia also refuses to work for El Al and other companies considering flights to and from Israel. The French company specializes in airport ground services and handles baggage and cargo for Belgian flag carrier Brussels Airlines.
“Sometimes it is impossible to find the words to describe this madness,” union representatives wrote in a letter sent to the management of Alyzia.
According to the unions, Alyzia workers should be given the option of choosing whether or not they wish to participate in the handling of baggage and cargo on flights to and from Israel. “As a union, we will support these people. If there is any form of obligation, we will consider taking action,” one representative said.
Brussels Airlines, for its part, has stated that its flights will be operated “by volunteer crews.”
The Belgian airline is part of Lufthansa Group. The group decided to gradually resume flights to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport starting on Aug. 1.
When Israeli airspace was closed on June 13, at the start of the 12-day war with Iran, the group—composed of Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings—suspended its flights to and from Tel Aviv.
Originally published by the European Jewish Press.
