"The Israel Airports Authority is not the Ministry of Finance's cash cow," Israel Airports Authority workers committee chairman Pinchas Idan said. He was responding to the publication of the proposed 2015 state budget, which includes payment of NIS 700 million in royalties to the state by the Airports Authority.
Idan said today that the workers committee took this measure very seriously. "I want to remind the Finance Ministry that the Airports Authority pays for itself, and is dealing with huge lawsuits by people living in communities around Ben Gurion Airport because of the noise made by airplane engines. The Airports Authority is paying by itself for construction of the new airport in Timna, the fourth wing of Ben Gurion Airport Terminal 3, and the airport controllers building."
"We won't accept the state taking money now from the Authority's treasury when we have been constantly streamlining, including 140 layoffs just before Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year), in order to save money for the state. I also remind everyone that after Operation Protective Edge, the number of passengers and flights fell steeply, and revenues went way down."
Idan called on the Authority to immediately halt all new projects. "If this edict is forced on us, the workers will immediately stop cooperating with all the Authority's new projects. The committee will also convene immediately after the holiday to decide on further measures," he threatened.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 2, 2014
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