‘Israelis con’t want to fly to South Africa’ – Final El Al flight takes off from Johannesburg

The last direct flight between Johannesburg and Tel Aviv has taken off from South Africa following El Al Israel Airlines’ announcement in January that the route would be canceled from April 1. The airline cited a steep drop in demand after South Africa filed a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing it of committing genocide in its military assault on the besieged Gaza Strip. “Israelis don’t want to fly to South Africa,” an El Al spokesperson reportedly said at the time. “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.” El Al, which flew up to twice weekly directly to Johannesburg, also reportedly cited the current security situation.<br/>