High Court rejected petition against El Al's Eilat flights

Israir claimed that adding El Al as a third designated airline was not examined properly bythe Ministry and therefore is unacceptable
 
The High Court of justice rejected last week a petition by competing airlines Israir and Arkia, demanding that El Al be prevented from running domestic flights to the southern city of Eilat.
 
Adv. Yoram Bonen from Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co. law office, one of Israel's foremost law firms, representing Israir claimed that adding El Al as a third designated airline was not examined properly bythe Ministry and therefore is unacceptable.
 
The court ruled that the petition had been submitted prematurely.
 
The court said, however, that Arkia and Israir could resubmit the petition after Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz issues his decision on the matter.
 
The court decision means that El Al will have to wait for at least 30 days after Katz issues his decision to allow the two complainants to resubmit their petition.
 
In its ruling, the court strongly criticized the Transportation Ministry's handling of the issue but said it did not have the authority to usurp the minister's authority to decide.
 
Arkia and Israir see El Al's move as a threat. It follows their attempts to enter the international market, which is dominated by El Al.