APG selected by El Al as General Sales Agent in Singapore

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APG is delighted to announce that it has been selected by EL AL Israel Airlines as their General Sales Agent (GSA) in Singapore. This strategic partnership underscores APG’s commitment to providing comprehensive sales and marketing services to leading airlines globally.

APG will be responsible for the promotion and sales of EL AL’s flights and services throughout Singapore. This collaboration aims to enhance EL AL’s presence in the region, offering Singapore travelers increased access to EL AL’s extensive network and superior services.

“We are delighted to be chosen by EL AL Israel Airlines as their GSA in Singapore” said Sandrine de Saint Sauveur, President & CEO at APG INC. “This partnership is a testament to our expertise and dedication in the aviation industry. We look forward to leveraging our local market knowledge and global reach to support EL AL’s growth in Singapore.”

“We warmly welcome the partnership between EL AL and APG in Singapore ” said: Mr. Adi Levy, ELAL Regional manager Asia

ABOUT EL AL
EL AL, founded in 1948 as Israel’s national airline, operated its first scheduled flight in 1949. In 2003, it became a public company listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Together with its subsidiary San D’Or, EL AL serves over 50 international destinations in more than 30 countries. Codeshare and interline agreements further extend its global reach. The airline operates a fleet of 47 Boeing aircraft and has agreements to lease and purchase up to 12 Boeing 787s and 31 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in the coming years.

Headquartered at Ben Gurion Airport, EL AL reflects Israel’s values of innovation and care, with 5,000 employees delivering its signature Israeli hospitality.

For the fourth year in a row, EL AL received the 2024–25 APEX Five Star Global Airline Award for inflight service, based on feedback from over one million flights. In 2024, EL AL flew 6.6 million passengers. Its frequent flyer program, Matmid, has over 3.2 million members

ABOUT APG
With over 30 years’ experience in airline distribution and over 100 offices globally, APG is the world’s largest and most successful airline representation network, partnering with over 200 valued airline clients. APG offers a holistic approach to airline distribution, offering not only airline representation but also interline e-ticketing solutions, fare filing and settlement support services, all aimed at maximising an airline’s revenue potential. APG is always at the forefront of distribution development and our latest APG NDC Platform will assist airlines unlock the benefits of NDC distribution.

Our new APG Cargo services are also gaining worldwide interest from airlines including our APG Cargo Interline solution (Cargo IET), cargo GSSA services and total cargo management solutions.

The APG Network is indeed, “The World’s Leading Network for Airline Services.”

Please visit our website www.apg-ga.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook @APGNetwork

Media Contact: f.despreaux@apg-ga.com

Enough is Enough

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On July 3 and 4, 2025, a small minority of French air traffic controllers: 272 on Thursday, July 3 and 251 on
Friday, July 4, 2025 out of a total of 3,462 air traffic controllers employed by the air navigation service DSNA,
which depends on the DGAC, the French Civil Aviation Directorate, went on strike. The result was devastating:
in France alone, 933 flights were cancelled on Thursday and 1,125 on Friday, i.e. between 25% of traffic on the
Paris platforms and 50% in southern airports such as Nice, for example. The icing on the cake is that all business
aviation flights have been cancelled. If we take an average of 150 passengers per flight, the 2,058 cancellations
impacted just over 300,000 passengers, not counting delays and customers of private flights. And not to
mention the 1,500 or so European flights forced to be cancelled because it was impossible to fly over French
territory, through which a large proportion of flights from the continent transit.

So much for the quantified damage, but it does not reflect the stress of passengers forced to stay on the
ground or that of airline and airport staff who have had to endure the understandable bad mood of their
customers without being able to take any action to resolve their situation. Of course, the date was well chosen,
it was the date when families can finally meet again after a year of separation.

The most beautiful thing is the reason for this work stoppage. For the past 2 years, controllers have had to
comply with a time clock so that their employer can ensure their presence, since the staff is also sized to move
air traffic safely. Except that until now, no one checked who was the wearer of the badges inserted in the time
clocks, which allowed all accommodations between employees who clocked in on behalf of absentees who were in charge of revenge. To mitigate what is nothing more or less than a form of fraud, the DGAC, i.e. their employer, has decided to introduce facial recognition linked to the wearer of the badge inserted in the time clock. Horror among the controllers who will no longer be able to take hours or even days of absence when they have decided themselves on the number of staff necessary to route the planned traffic. The best part of the story is that the motive of the strikers is precisely to demand additional staff.

Basically, we can’t blame employees for always wanting more, after all they have very short working weeks and
even if their profession requires particularly sustained attention and unfailing professionalism, they are not
alone in the control room and there are several of them on the same workstation in the event of an expected
overload of work. They could just as easily demand large salary increases, even if they are part of the
proportion of the highest paid civil servants, with an average salary of €5,000 net per month, which
corresponds to an average gross salary of €6,250.

In this lamentable case, what is most shocking is the laxity of the authorities. The latter are perfectly aware of
the practices that take place in the control centres and they have been turning a blind eye for years. In
addition, they are unable to organize a continuity of service with only 272 strikers present in two minority
unions out of a total of 3,462 air traffic controllers, i.e. 7.85% of the workforce. I don’t know of any company manager who puts his activity on hold for 7.85% of strikers. How can we accept this lack of authority and
management? How do those in charge accept to put 300,000 people in distress so as not to be able to
reorganize their workforce?

I am told that the controllers are untouchable and that the last time civilian control was handed over to the
military was in 1973, which resulted in a mid-air collision over Nantes. Yes, but that was 52 years ago, more
than half a century ago. Since then, technology has evolved significantly. Are we sure, for example, that foreign
German, Swiss, British or other control centres would not be able to regulate traffic to compensate for the
shortcomings of French centres? For years, Europeans have been working on a European management of air
traffic control. That would be welcome. At the time, the American controllers decided on a massive work
stoppage, but they came up against the will of President Ronald Reagan who proceeded to dismiss all the
strikers, i.e. 2/3 of the workforce. Of course, this caused a monster mess in the sky for at least 3 months, but
since 1981 and the 11,000 layoffs we have not heard of an untimely work stoppage in the USA.
The Minister of Transport, Mr Philippe Tabarot, cannot be satisfied with condemning the attitude of the
strikers in the media. Should the law be changed to stop these acts? Why not, in any case enough is enough
and let the leaders of our country take their responsibilities.

ICAO: A Supranational Power?

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There are powers vested in certain international organizations that are greater than those of sovereign states. This is the case of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) created in November 1944 by the historic Chicago Convention which laid the foundations of modern commercial aviation. Originally 52 countries were part of this organization, there are now 192, in other words almost all the states of the planet. One of its main roles is to enact the rules that ensure the safety of this fragile sector of activity. The same directives are applicable everywhere in the world and their application is entrusted to the Civil Aviation of the participating countries. These are responsible, among other things, for issuing the famous AOC Air Operator Certificate. However, in order for its authority to be respected, the ICAO has inspectors, attached to the major political units, such as the European Union for example, and these can take away from a country the right to issue the essential CTAs.

This is what has just happened in Tanzania. The inspections carried out by the EU delegates have found very significant deficiencies in the functioning of the Civil Aviation of this country. As a result, all airlines under Tanzanian authority have been placed under a European “Blacklist”. Of course, these carriers can continue to fly in their country but international flights are forbidden to them because neighboring or even distant states must respect the decisions taken in accordance with ICAO rules and moreover no insurance company will dare to cover an operator placed on the “Blacklist”. This is an interesting example of super sovereignty, certainly for a limited part of the economy of countries, but which is imposed on governments, even if the latter exercise their power in a completely legitimate way within their country.

Around the world, a number of countries have been placed in the same situation. They are generally so because the Civil Aviation Authorities concerned are too corrupt and they grant exploitation rights outside the elementary precautionary rules set by the international agency. In fact, the penalties affect carriers first. In some countries only some of them are placed on the death list, but in other countries this sanction affects all registered operators. This is the case for at least 10 African countries, a continent that unfortunately leads by a wide margin, hit by endemic corruption, at least for the affected countries. The list of countries concerned is public, it is not here that we are going to point the finger at them. Some, such as Nigeria, have made considerable efforts to return to international rules, others, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, are unable to get out of this situation, even though this country, by its size and wealth, should obviously join the concert of International Civil Aviation.

The “Blacklisting” is very similar to the embargo placed not only on the economy of the states concerned but also on their ability to pursue relations with other countries. However, one of the essential prerogatives of a government is to be able to trade with other neighbors, whether state or not. And what is the most effective instrument for this if not air transport? I am always surprised to see that the countries concerned in the world, there are about twenty or so closer to ten others impacted by one or other of their airlines, do not agree to make the necessary efforts to join the great mass of countries authorized to trade with the rest of the world. To do this, you have to accept a few basic rules: solid training for the leaders of the national Civil Aviation and an elementary rule: an Air Transport Certificate cannot be purchased from your national authority.

Finally, air transport is a good indicator of the economic practices that allow the world to exchange people and goods, because the 180 or so countries involved in world trade exercise it with identical safety rules. I am well aware that there are still serious disparities between states, whether on fiscal or social aspects, but air safety rules are not up for discussion, or else we have to accept to leave international relations.

ICAO is the regulator and guarantor of safe air transport. It is thanks to this organization that this activity has been able to grow by constantly improving its reliability. Let us imagine for a moment what would have become of air transport and even the world economy and even relations between states if the ICAO had not been created in a certain month of November 1944.