El Al will be suspending flights to and from Toronto in late October, according to a report in The Canadian Jewish News.
The move will effectively end service by the Israeli airline from Canada to Tel Aviv as El Al stopped flying to Montreal years ago, according to the news report.
A change.org petition urging El Al to reconsider has already garnered more than 3,300 signatures.
The CJN article noted that before the coronavirus pandemic, 100,000 Canadians traveled to Israel. According to Gal Hana, the Israeli consul of tourism for Canada, the goal was to increase that by 10% next year. However, that figure will be “compromised” by El Al’s decision, he told CJN.
Canada is an important market for Israeli tourism, wrote CJN, noting that Canadians tend to visit more often, stay longer and spend more money than other tourists.
If El Al goes ahead with its plans, Canadians who want to travel to Israel will have to use Air Canada or fly out of the United States.
