El Al Considers
Detroit Flight

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KIMBERLY LIFTON STAFF WRITER

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l Al Israel Airlines
Vice President and
General Manager
Leon Hasdai believes
"every community is
talking
about
the
Miracle Mission."
So is El Al.
When three jumbo jets
carrying 1,300 passen-
gers left Detroit in one
day last April for Israel,
the country's major air
carrier began taking a
more serious look at
using Michigan as a
starting point for travel.
"This is a record yea r
for travel to Israel from
Michigan," said Lynn
Koppinger, local repre-
sentative for El Al.
"Business has been
excellent. And any time
there is enough traffic,
El Al will be happy to set
up a flight."
Now El Al is conduct-
ing a marketing study —
with results due in
October — that wil
determine whether it i
financially feasible fo s
the airline to traffi c
directly out of Detroit.
"We would be jus t
delighted if this hap
pens," said Robert
Aronson, executive vice
president for the Jewish
Federation, which co-
sponsored the Miracle
Mission with The Jewish
News. "I think we can
generate the business.
The market is there.
We've seen that."

C011/11.1
K 11101113E

W

orldwide Financial
Services president
Jack Wolfe is on a roll.
The mortgage company,
started by four Jewish
men, has reached $1 bil-
lion in its client portfolio
in less than three years of
operations.
Worldwide has out-
grown its Bloomfield Hills
location, and last month it
opened a new 20,000-
square-foot headquarters
in downtown Birming-
ham. Offices are also open

„,„er;fr ."

Tsion Ben-David

El Al, which is spend
ing several million dol
lars to replace all the
seats in the economy
class sections of its 747
to add extra inches of leg
room, is the leading air
carrier between the
United States and Israel,
offering more nonstop
flights to and from Israel
than any other airline.

Los Angeles.
El Al also services the
Dallas-Fort Worth area,
and the carrier is looking
into starting two flights
a week from Detroit.
Marketing studies are
under way for destina-
tions beginning in
Atlanta and San
Francisco.
"We are getting infor-
mation together and we
are analyzing figures,"
This is a record
Mr. Hasdai said. "I will
year for travel to
not predict the outcome
before
I see the numbers.
Israel from
f there is justification,
Michigan.
we will bring the
flights."
This summer, 18
Already this year,
flights a week are sched-
t ourism and airline offi-
uled to leave New York; c ials agreed, record num-
two weekly flights will
b ers of travelers from
leave from Boston,
Detroit have visited
Chicago and Baltimore;
I srael, helping to boost
three flights from Miami
i is No. 1 industry:
and four each week from t ourism. In 1992, 6,000
Michigan tourists trav-
eled to Israel
Of the 500,000 people
from the United States
who visited Israel last
year, 43,000 were from
the Midwest. Tsion Ben-
I_E
V L_ I F ir O 14
David, the director for
the Midwest Israel
in Bloomfield Hills,
Government Tourist
Brighton, Farmington
Hills and Troy. The com-
Office, projects that trav-
pany hopes to expand to
el this year to Israel will
St. Joseph and Grosse
jump by 15 percent,
Pointe in the coming
(flights were up by 13
months.
percent between January
Bob Denton. formerly
and March).
of Independence One
"If you could have
Mortgage in Southfield,
direct flights from every
recently joined the staff
major city in the United
as chief executive officer.
States, • it would be
Under his leadership,
Worldwide executives
ideal," Mr. Ben-David
plan to diversify its finan-
said.
KUDOS page 34
EL AL page 35

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JS

improving
de bald
ance for political consid-
erations that have led
them not to update the
1975 trade agreement,"
said Mr. Rabin,
He- said many export
products have prohibitive
duties imposed on them
and that opening up the
European market could
have a significant impact
on the Israel economy.
"Just an additional $1

for politic& ,
ons.
He demanded equal
treatment from them.He
also noted that the flip
side of opening markets
abroad for Israeli prod-
ucts is than local markets
have to open up to
imports, with all of the
adjustments it requires.