Sun d'Or, El Al's leisure department, will no longer fly on the Sabbath. The group is thus standardizing its behavior, because El Al itself does not fly on the day that is important in the Jewish faith.
So far, the carrier has also operated holiday and charter flights on the Sabbath under the Sun d'Or brand. Now, according to local media, the crews have been informed that this practice will end and the entire El-Al group will not operate any passenger flights on the Sabbath. However, this measure should not have primarily "religious reasons", but rather be due to the simple fact that tourists are currently only allowed to enter Israel with special permits and therefore there is no demand.
El Al also wanted to fly to Salzburg in the 2020 summer flight schedule under the Sun d'Or brand. However, the corona pandemic thwarted the bill, so the connection has not yet been established. According to a spokesman for the carrier, the plans are still in place and the route can be expected to begin in the summer of 2021, provided that the mutual entry and quarantine regulations are relaxed.
Incidentally, the corona pandemic also led to the carriers registered in the Republic of Israel handing over the Sabbath break. Israir recently announced that it will no longer fly on Saturdays. El Al never did this anyway - with the exception of the leisure brand Sun d'Or. At the moment only Arkia flies on the Sabbath. Obviously, the decisions have primarily a financial background, as demand is extremely low due to the global crisis.
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