El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) has announced that the suspension of all passenger flights has been extended until September 30 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The unpaid leave of 6,080 employees will also be extended until the end of next month – almost the entire workforce of the airline. El Al continues to operate a small number of cargo flights.

The airline said that the extension of the suspension was due to “continued restrictions regarding mandatory isolation for travelers entering Israel (except from a very small number of countries) and the ban on foreign tourists from entering Israel.”

El Al CEO Gonen Usishkin said, “There is still a significant way to go until the restart of scheduled flights. In order to see people resuming flying we need both countries of origin of a journey and destinations to remove isolation requirements, shorter checking procedures, and no less important high public confidence in flights.”

Source: Globes, Israel business news