British Midland is one of the largest airlines in the world. This  time last year, it finally got round to operating a daily flight to Tel Aviv airport.

The past few months have not been kind to the travel industry. A commercial recession has seen less business people hoping on flights. Tourism to Israel is down around 50% by some calculations.

However, 2 days ago, British Midland made a positive statement and bucked the trend. They now have 2 daily flights in both directions, Heathrow – Tel Aviv. Their chief executive, Mr Nigel Turner, personally turned up to launch the event at a gala cocktail hosted by the British ambassador in Israel.

For the record, I can testify that the event was a tremendous success, plenty of networking going on, people looking for opportunities to promote trade between the two countries.

Let us hope that the new Israeli minister for transport continues to open up Israel’s skies, as promised at the ceremony. this can only be better for the customers and help to further bilateral ties around the world.