On Tuesday, El Al Israel Airlines and American Airlines have announced that they shall sign a code-sharing agreement to be implemented from 2nd September. Most notably, North America is a significant part of the international market of El Al. The firm has ended yet another code-share agreement with Delta Air Lines late in 2007 at a point when Delta started offering non-stop flights connecting Tel Aviv and New York earlier during this year.

According to Haim Romano, the El Al president and chief executive, the initial part of the agreement with American is to commence with about 25 destinations from Tel Aviv, which will include Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco and Miami. He too added that most of these routes would begin to operate in the month of September, with the rest coming to force in October.

Also, the Miami code-share is to replace El Al's direct flights there that are due to end on 1st September. According to Romano, El Al gave up the popular but costly route since it was under compulsion to use older Boeing 767s.

Interestingly, the above said agreement is effected at a time when the high fuel costs are forcing airlines to cut back routes and capacity. Romano observed, "We think this can be a solution for El Al to the complicated situation where airlines are forced to reinvent themselves every so often. The fact that a flight on a 408-seat jumbo to New York today costs between USD$800 and USD$900 per seat just in fuel costs has forced airlines to review their actions."