El Al Israel Airlines, the national carrier of Israel, announced on Friday that it will stop flying to Johannesburg, South Africa, from the end of March.
The decision was made due to a sharp decline in demand from Israeli travelers, who are avoiding South Africa after it accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The airline, which operates up to two nonstop flights per week to Johannesburg, said that its planes were mostly empty and that Israelis preferred to travel to other destinations. The spokesperson of El Al also mentioned the current security situation as a factor for suspending the route.
South Africa has filed a case against Israel at the ICJ, the U.N.'s highest court, alleging that Israel is responsible for state-led genocide in Gaza, where more than 25,000 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes and ground operations since October. The ICJ is expected to rule on Friday on South Africa’s request for urgent measures to stop Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
Israel has rejected the case as baseless and unfounded, and has asked the court to dismiss it. An Israeli government spokesperson said on Thursday that they expected the ICJ to “throw out these spurious and specious charges”. Israel claims that it is acting in self-defense against Hamas.
El Al said that it will use the widebody aircraft that it currently deploys on the Johannesburg route to increase its flights to North America and Asia, especially Bangkok and Tokyo. The airline also said that it is exploring new routes to expand its network.
