Israel-bound flight flies over Saudi airspace
TEL AVIV: Air India on Thursday launched the first scheduled service to Israel to be allowed to cross Saudi airspace, a sign of a behind-the-scenes improvement in ties between the Arab kingdom and the Jewish state.
Flight AI 139 from New Delhi landed at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport 30 minutes after its scheduled arrival time of 1945 GMT.
“This is a historic moment,” Israeli transport minister Yisrael Katz said on the tarmac as the Boeing Dreamliner rolled to a halt. He said such a direct link would further strengthen the relationship between the two nations.
There will now be three flights weekly in each direction, ending a decades-long Saudi ban on the use of its airspace for commercial flights to Israel.
The Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement that Israel considers the new route important, noting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the matter of the route with his counterpart Narendra Modi when the two met in July in Israel and then in January in India, Haaretz newspaper reported.
The ministry said the route would also lower fares and boost investment and tourism from India to Israel.
Israel’s national carrier El Al currently operates an India service to Mumbai that takes a detour over the Red Sea to avoid flying over Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Saudi Arabia and Israel have no official diplomatic relations. Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries with peace treaties with Israel.
On a query over Saudi Arabia allowing Air India to use its airspace, tourism minister Yariv Levin said: “We have to very cautious. This is really a first step -- a very important one... I hope with times we have more and more normal relation with our neighbour in this region... India played a very important bridge (by introducing this flight) not only between India and us but also between Israel and other countries in this region.”