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Israel's El Al Seeks International Help to Access Saudi Airspace
(Reuters) Tova Cohen and Ari Rabinovitch - Israel's El Al has asked the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to help it access Saudi Arabian airspace, so it can compete with Air India's planned route between India and Israel. El Al currently flies four weekly flights to Mumbai, but these take seven hours rather than five as they take a longer route to avoid Saudi airspace. Air India is to begin direct flights to Tel Aviv which pass through Saudi airspace, offering a shorter route. El Al's CEO Gonen Usishkin has now turned to IATA, saying he understood no such permission would be granted to Israeli jetliners and asking the association to prevent "an uneven playing field." "I am approaching you and kindly requesting IATA to intervene and to represent aviation industry's interest by advocating equal overfly rights for all carriers over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and opposing any form of discrimination," he wrote.