Kuwait Airways scraps London-New York flight after dispute over Israeli passengers
04:12PM Thu 17 Dec, 2015
(CNN)Did Kuwait Airways just scrap an entire flight service to avoid carrying Israeli passengers?
The airline has this week pulled its connection between New York's JFK airport and London Heathrow after U.S. authorities threatened legal action over alleged discrimination.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in September warned the Kuwaiti carrier that it had "unlawfully discriminated" against a passenger using an Israeli passport by refusing to sell him a ticket.
It sent a letter giving the airline 15 days to outline how it would in the future comply with anti-discrimination laws.
Kuwait Airways response, according to the DOT, appears to have been to drop its London-New York route.
"On December 15th, Kuwait Airways informed the U.S. DOT that they will be eliminating service between JFK and London Heathrow," a spokesperson for the DOT told CNN.
Online booking services showed no future flights available from the airline.
The DOT's action followed a complaint from an Israeli citizen, Eldad Gatt, who said he attempted to buy a ticket online through Kuwait Airways in 2013, but could not select Israel as his passport-issuer.
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