Kuwait Airways drops flight to avoid Israeli fliers

Kuwait Airways will operate its last flight between New York City and London on Saturday, deciding last month to drop the route after about 35 years of service rather than transport Israeli citizens between the two cities, Las Vegas Sun reported.

The Transportation Department found in September that the airline’s policy discriminated against Israeli citizens and ordered the practice to stop. Instead, the airline announced in December that it would drop the flights.

The decision does not apply to the airline’s three weekly nonstop flights between Kennedy International Airport in New York and Kuwait City. Those flights are not affected because Israelis are not allowed to visit Kuwait and are not granted visas.

Passengers in transit through another country are another matter, according to the Transportation Department, which said that Kuwait Airways’ refusal to carry Israeli citizens between New York City and London amounted to “unreasonable discrimination” because Israeli passport holders have the legal right to travel between the United States and Britain.

“An airline does not have the right to refuse to sell tickets to and transport a person between the U.S. and any third country where they are allowed to disembark based on the laws of that country,” said Namrata Kolachalam, a spokeswoman for the department.