Air France Complies with Israel's Restrictions on Crew Nationalities in Its Airspace

Air France has confirmed its compliance with new Israeli restrictions that prohibit flight crews operating into Israeli airspace from holding nationalities of a number of countries — restrictions that legal experts have described as potentially exposing the airline to discrimination lawsuits.

Israel's Ministry of Transport and Road Safety notified foreign airlines on October 1 that pilots and crew members holding citizenship — primary or dual — of any country that does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel are not permitted to operate flights into Israeli airspace. The list includes 31 Muslim-majority countries, including Algeria, Tunisia, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Niger.

Air France stated: "Like other airlines, Air France complies with the entry regulations established by the authorities of the countries it serves, whether for its customers or its employees."

According to Israeli news channel N12, the Israeli directive was issued the day after an incident in which an Omani copilot allegedly attempted to hijack a Flydubai aircraft on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv and crash it at Ben Gurion Airport. What Air France did not disclose: the airline made no reference to any internal legal review of the decision, nor did it specify the number of affected employees.