El Al is trying to force the rescindment of Air India's permit to operate its new Delhi-Tel Aviv service on short routes unavailable to the Israeli flag-carrier.
Air India opened the link on 22 March using a route that crossed Saudi Arabian and Omani airspace, a flightpath which El Al is not authorised to fly.
El Al, which considers the situation unfairly competitive, says it has filed a petition with the High Court of Justice against the permit granted to Air India.
It is also seeking to block the government from issuing any similar future permits to foreign carriers for services on routes to which El Al does not have access.
El Al says the petition, filed by its controlling shareholder, has been filed against the Israeli government, the prime minister and the country's civil aviation authority, as well as Air India.
"The state of Israel is in contravention of binding international conventions," it claims, referring to the alleged breach of standards on equal opportunity and fair competition.
El Al also claims that the Israeli government is violating undertakings to which it committed when the flag-carrier was privatised.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
