Air France has confirmed that it is complying with new Israeli restrictions limiting who can fly to and over Israel based on their nationality, a controversial policy that some experts say could expose the airline to discrimination lawsuits. The new Israeli restrictions, reported by Israeli media and French investigative publication Mediapart, list 31 Muslim-majority countries, including Algeria, Tunisia, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Niger, whose nationals are no longer allowed to fly into Israel’s airspace. According to Israel’s N12 broadcaster, the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety told foreign airlines on October 1 that pilots and cabin crew operating flights into Israeli airspace must not hold the nationality or dual nationality of countries that lack diplomatic relations with Israel.
The directive came a day after an Omani copilot allegedly attempted to hijack a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv and crash it into Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on September 30, according to Emirati and Israeli authorities. The copilot is accused of attacking the plane’s Indian pilot, who has been recovering in hospital. The Israeli directive could affect dozens of airlines that fly to, from or over that country.
Al Jazeera contacted the Israeli Transport Ministry for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication. Al Jazeera also contacted 15 major international airlines operating flights to Israel, asking whether they had received the directive and changed crew assignments in response. Smartwings, the largest Czech airline, confirmed that it had received the new Israeli directive, and while it said its operations were not impacted at the moment, it added that it would comply with the restrictions.
We have carefully reviewed the directive and continue to monitor and comply with all applicable requirements issued by the relevant authorities. At present, the directive does not have any impact on our operations, crew management procedures, or the deployment of crew members on flights to and from Israel,” Vladimira Dufkova, a spokeswoman for Smartwings, told Al Jazeera. United Airlines responded, saying only that they “don’t have anything to share”.
The US airline did not confirm whether it had received the Israeli directive or acted on it. An internal memo to Air France pilots and cabin crew, seen by Mediapart, warned that “failure to comply with this directive would expose Air France and the employee to potential sanctions”. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the memo.
The reported restrictions could put Air France at odds with French employment law, said Paris-based anti-discrimination lawyer Clara Gandin, raising questions about whether an airline can comply with a foreign government’s security requirements while ignoring its obligations to its workers. She said Air France’s adoption of the directive amounts to outright “discriminatory harassment”. Gandin explained that French law does make a caveat for a difference in treatment in cases where it is an “occupational requirement”, where a move pursues a “legitimate aim” that is proportionate, and where it is linked to the nature of the job.
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