El Al taps aviation regulator in campaign to access Saudi air

El Al asked the global aviation regulator to help it secure rights to fly over Saudi Arabia, which would reduce flight times and costs for the carrier. Saudi Arabia would violate UN-sanctioned regulations should it allow Indian planes en route to Israel to fly over its airspace without granting the same access to Israeli carriers, CE Gonen Usishkin wrote in a letter addressed to Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, president of the ICAO. The one-sided approval would be discriminatory on the part of Saudi authorities, who would not reciprocate the access to El Al “solely” because it’s “an Israeli airline,” Usishkin said. Ushishkin requested that the ICAO “take action in accordance with its authority and responsibilities vis-a-vis Saudi Arabia, to procure permission for El Al to fly above Saudi Arabia”. <br/>