November 1, 2012, 1:08 p.m. ET
By DOUG CAMERON
The Wall Street Journal
U.S. regulators said Thursday they had upgraded Israel to a
top-tier aviation-safety rating, a move that would allow El Al Israel
Airlines Ltd. and its Israeli rivals to boost flights to and from the
U.S. and expand partnerships with other carriers.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the
agency restored Israel to the Category 1 safety status it lost in
December 2008. The upgrade followed an inspection last month of the
country’s facilities and procedures.
Israel’s promotion comes as a number of other countries with large
aviation markets—notably Indonesia and the Philippines—seek to regain
their own top-tier safety ratings from U.S. and European regulators.
The FAA ratings and those overseen by the European Union apply to
countries, rather than individual airlines, and include elements such as
airport and air-traffic control procedures and staff training.
Countries that lack a Category 1 rating fail to comply with standards
laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a branch of
the United Nations.
The U.S. downgrade in 2008 reflected concerns about Israel’s
oversight of private aviation, rather than about its commercial carriers
or security matters.
“Israel’s civil-aviation authority worked with the FAA on an action
plan so that its safety-oversight system fully complies with ICAO’s
standards and practices,” the U.S. agency said in its statement.
The upgrade is particularly important for Israel’s three main
carriers: El Al, Arkia Israeli Airlines and Israir Airlines, though only
El Al currently flies to the U.S. All three airlines were unable to
expand service to the U.S. or code-share with U.S. carriers as long as
their country lacked Category 1 status.
The trio have faced tougher competition on routes to and from Europe
since Israel reached an open-skies aviation deal with the EU earlier
this year, ending market-access restrictions. Israel has an open-skies
pact with the U.S., but its airlines were unable to take advantage of
the opportunities.
North America accounts for about a fifth of El Al’s total capacity,
and Tel Aviv to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport is its
busiest international route, with service to Newark, N.J., ranking
fifth. El Al has a limited alliance with JetBlue Airways Group Inc. that
doesn’t include code-sharing, a practice in which carriers cross-sell
each others’ tickets.
JetBlue said it had no immediate plans to expand the pact.
An El Al representative wasn’t immediately available for comment.
The restrictions imposed by safety ratings have prompted airlines to
look for innovative ways to add service. Cebu Air Inc. of the
Philippines last month unveiled plans to fly to Guam and Hawaii, a move
that would provide U.S. carriers with a rare instance of competition
from Asia’s fast-growing low-cost airline sector.
The company’s Cebu Pacific unit is seeking approval to launch flights
from Manila to Guam in April, though it would have to use aircraft and
crews rented from another airline based in a country with a Category 1
rating.
The U.S. downgraded the Philippines’ aviation-safety status to
Category 2 in January 2008. The EU also included the Philippines on its
aviation blacklist, barring any flights to the region by Filipino
airlines. The Philippines is the second-most-populous nation, after
Indonesia, to lack a Category 1 rating from the FAA.
Source: http://online.wsj.com
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