Palestinian Airlines remains grounded after its main base at Gaza International Airport was closed by Israel in October following the latest round of violence in the region.
Prior to the troubles, Palestinian had been operating flights to Arab destinations including Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Gaza International is also served by several Arab airlines, including Egyptair. Flights to and from the airport are fully controlled by the Israeli air force.
"The airport will remain closed until the area is safe again," says Avner Yarkony, head of the Israeli civil aviation authority.
Palestinian has two Fokker 50s and a single Boeing 727-200, but was about to upgrade its fleet with two Bombardier CRJ200s and two Dash 8-300s. Part of the fleet is at the airport, while the remainder is stored in various Arab countries.
The airport was initially closed by Israel on 8 October after a bus carrying employees of the Israeli airport authority was attacked. Only aircraft serving Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestinian authority, were allowed to use the airport. A few days later, it was re-opened for a short while, before ongoing fighting forced it to close again.
Source: Flight International