Airports Authority Refuses Court Data on El Al Price Hikes

The Israel Airports Authority has refused a request from the Central District Court in Lod to provide data regarding flight numbers, destinations, carriers, and passenger traffic. The court sought this information as part of its review of a motion to certify class-action lawsuits totaling over one billion shekels against El Al.

El Al is accused of abusing its de facto monopoly status and inflating prices, particularly during wartime. The airline denies these allegations and disputes claims of holding a monopoly during the period in question.

The Airports Authority cited disproportionate labor costs and the risk of revealing airlines' commercial secrets as reasons for its refusal. Judge Rami Chaimovich had ordered the authority to clarify the scope of work required, to which Rachel Lehava, head of the authority's industry and management division, responded that it would take dozens of hours and require staff to be diverted for several days.

Judge Chaimovich noted that recent court decisions, including those by Judges Dafna Barak-Erez and Arnon Dra'el, have expressed skepticism towards government bodies claiming technical difficulty in data extraction. The court stated that the need for active data preparation does not inherently justify refusal. The judge also questioned the validity of citing commercial secrecy, suggesting that compiling existing data into a single file is unlikely to make it secret and that Israeli practice overly broadens the definition of sensitive commercial information regarding market share.