Israel said on Tuesday it was concerned about security at Frankfurt Airport prior to boarding of Lufthansa flights to Tel Aviv, but denied reports it plans to halt flights from the Germany airline.

"We are not banning flights," Arik Ben-Ami, senior deputy director-general of Israel's Civil Aviation Administration, said. "We have all intentions to find the best solutions to ensure the safe operation between Germany and Israel."

He said Israeli CAA security officials plan to meet their German counterparts early next week in Frankfurt to review security measures.

Ben-Ami declined to say what the security problems were, but an Israeli government aviation source said it was procedural.

"The issue is procedures at the Frankfurt airport," the source said, without elaborating. "Our security people have some concerns about the procedures."

The airport operator, Fraport, said security checks were especially tight on passengers travelling to Israel.

"We have very severe and intensive security checks, especially for passengers to Israel. All these measures have been discussed with Israeli security authorities, so we are a little bit surprised," said a Fraport spokesman.

A spokesman for Lufthansa in Tel Aviv explained that Israel's problem centered on departures from Terminal C, where Lufthansa flies two flights a day to Tel Aviv -- one in the morning and one in the evening.

"In the evening there is an additional security check (after passport control) before departing that doesn't exist in the morning," said the spokesman, Itzhak Zaroni, noting that there is no need for a second security check in the morning.

"In the morning until the afternoon, there are no incoming flights, so all the people in this terminal have already been checked and screened," he said. "In the evening, we also have incoming flights (in the terminal), so people mingle."

SECURITY SAID STRINGENT

Zaroni said that after next week's meeting, Israel should be satisfied with security measures in Frankfurt, which are the responsibility of government. "The security measures in Frankfurt are very, very, very stringent," he said.

A German government spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Israel's mass daily Yedioth Ahronoth and Financial Times Deutschland reported that Israel's Transport Ministry had threatened to ban Lufthansa flights to and from Israel because of what it sees as insufficient security levels at Frankfurt, continental Europe's busiest passenger hub.

Lufthansa sees the issue as one in a series of attempts to dent the German carrier's success on the Frankfurt-Tel Aviv route.

Zaroni noted that El Al Israel Airlines flights also leave from Terminal C in Frankfurt.

Israel's CAA had ordered Lufthansa -- the largest foreign carrier to Israel -- to slash the number of seats on the route by 15 percent through the end of March and by another 10 percent in April.

The CAA argued Lufthansa was increasing the number of seats to fly Israelis to destinations other than Germany, which cut into El Al's business.

Lufthansa petitioned Israel's Supreme Court, which last week issued a temporary injunction against any capacity cuts.

Ben-Ari said the latest row over security was unrelated. "This has nothing to do with the issue of (capacity on) Lufthansa flights between Israel and Germany," he said. "It's just a coincidence."

(Reuters)