The EU has signed a comprehensive new air transport agreement with Israel on Monday on the sidelines of a meetinf of EU Transport Ministers in Luxembourg, in an effort to encourage a larger number of European airlines to operate direct flights to and from the Jewish State.
All airlines from the 27-nation EU will be able to fly direct to Israel and Israeli carriers will be allowed to fly to airports throughout the EU, the European Commission said in a statement.
According to EU Commission Vice-President in charge of mobility and transport Siim Kallas, the move reiterates Israel’s importance to the EU with respect to the economic, trade and tourism sectors, and, it is hoped, the agreement will open up “lower prices, more jobs and economic benefits on both sides”.
The deal signed on the sidelines of a meeting of EU transport ministers in Luxembourg will see the market gradually opened up over the next five years until all restrictions are lifted by 2018.
A recent study by the European Commission estimated the agreement would constitute an additional €350 million in bilateral trade once fully operational.
Europe currently represents 57% of all international air travel from Israel, and, as such is its most important aviation market. 2011 saw the traffic between the EU and Israel reach 7.2 million passengers, an increase of 6.8% on the previous year, and the EU hopes this agreement will further exploit what it sees as the Israeli market’s “strong growth potential”.
Today, there are scheduled direct passenger flight connections between Israel and 18 EU Member States : Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
 However, in an apparent effort to stave off criticism of the EU’s perceived upgrade in relations with Israel, Kallas was keen to emphasise that this latest agreement with the Jewish State “represents a significant step in the implementation of the EU’s renewed and reinforced external aviation policy adopted in 2012”, which has seen it sign similar agreements with the Western Balkan countries, Morocco, Jordan, Georgia and Moldova, with more set to follow with Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Lebanon and Tunisia.
Last April, the Israeli cabinet approved the European-Mediterranean Sea (“Open Skies”) aviation agreement between Israel and the EU, with Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahuheralding the approval "as a means of lowering the prices of flights to and from Israel and to increase incoming tourism," as he vowed to “continue to advance reforms to lower the cost of living and increase the efficiency of services to Israeli citizens”.
Israeli airline El Al employees went on strike for two days against the agreement, saying that it would lead to job losses.
Netanyahu has recently said Israel’s goal “is to reach 10 million tourists a year in Israel in a decade."
Addressing the Jerusalem International Tourism Summit in Jerusalem, he declared: "We have doubled the number of tourists in the last few years from 1.5 million to 3 million per year and we need to double this number again and continue its growth.Our goal is to reach 10 million tourists a year in a decade."