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Podcast: North Star with Ellin Bessner
Episode: Two years ago this week El Al said it was shuttering direct service to Canada. Will it return?
Description: Like the Taylor Swift song about her ex-boyfriend, El Al airlines is likely “never, ever, getting back together” with Canada, at least not in the form of direct non-stop El Al flights with the Star of David logo on its planes. Two years ago on June 21, 2022 the Israeli carrier announced it was shuttering direct service to Toronto. After 40 years of service to Canada, the Toronto office was closed, 30 employees were laid off. The Toronto airport infrastructure was abandoned.
But El Al’s new senior vice president for the Americas, Simon Newton-Smith, isn’t completely abandoning the Canadian market, which he calls...