Brosh: ICAA's outdated aviation policy costs Israel over $200m a year

Economic organizations liaison committee chairman and Israel Manufacturers Association president Mr. Shraga Brosh wrote yesterday a letter to the Prime Minister Mr. Ariel Sharon insisting that the aviation restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Transport on an open skies policy for incoming flights are preventing any substantial increase in either incoming tourism or importing cargoes of raw materials and finished goods.
 
According to Brosh:" any addition of flights to and from Israel by foreign airlines, requires prior approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA). The ICAA created difficulties to foreign airlines and hardly approves such requests".
 
Brosh emphasized in his letter that the shortage of flights to Israel not only blocks competition but also prevents further expansion of tourist demand for Israel.
 
The net result of not having competitive aviation industry is a net loss of hundreds of thousands of potential tourists arriving every year to Israel, which, according to Brosh, deprives the Israeli economy of revenue, and costs Israel in GDP terms $200 million a year.
 
He also emphasized that any policy that would be adopted to increase the frequency of flights and encourage competition will help to reduce air freight costs to and from Israel.
 
Economists working on behalf of the hotels association said that the increase in number of tourists has an immediate effect on many sectors such as food, beverage, transport, textile, jewelry , cosmetics etc. and added that the aviation restrictions prevented the creation of 4,000 jobs.