El Al profit soars, CEO urges foreign carriers to resume Israel flights

El Al Israel Airlines Wednesday swung to a first-quarter profit, boosted by strong demand at a time when foreign carriers have halted or curtailed flights to Israel because of the conflict with Palestinian militant group Hamas. The Israeli flag carrier said it earned $80.5m in January-March, versus a $34.4m loss a year earlier. Revenue rose 48% to $738m, while its passenger load factor rose to 93% from 85%. El Al's CEO called on foreign airlines to resume flying and add flights to Israel to help alleviate pressure on the Israeli carrier. "There is more demand than supply and we cannot add more capacity," Dina Ben Tal Ganancia told Reuters. "We did whatever we could and we are stretched to the edge of our capacity ... There is a lot of pressure on our shoulders to add more flights but we can't." Since Israel's war with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas which followed Hamas' attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, almost all foreign airlines halted flights to Tel Aviv. This left El Al - with a fleet of just 43 planes - to handle all passenger traffic. European carriers have started flying to Israel again, although on a reduced schedule. United has restarted U.S. flights but they are currently suspended for another week, with Delta also set to resume in June. The CEO said El Al had ended non-performing routes like Johannesburg and Toronto and has boosted flights to popular destinations such as the United States and Asia.<br/>