TEL AVIV (Reuters) – The Al Airlines will fly from Israel to the United Arab Emirates on Monday through an airline, displayed a timeline on the Israel Airports Authority website, as countries move forward with an agreement to normalize relations.
The direct flight from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport to the political capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, is expected to bring an Israeli delegation and accompanying US officials, who negotiated the August 13th agreement. [nL8N2FR6C6]
Al and his small Israeli rival Israel had submitted offers for the flight, an aviation source said. A spokesman for El Al did not respond to a request for comment.
The flight number is marked as “LY971” in the online schedule, in all likelihood referring to the UAE country code, which is 971.
There are no official air links between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, and it is unclear whether an Israeli aircraft could fly over Saudi Arabia, which has no official ties to Israel, to reduce flight time.
A U.S. government official showed that officials, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner, are believed to be on the El Al flight from Tel Aviv on August 31 at 10 a.m. (07:00 GMT).
The flight direction and landing time were still in progress, the U.S. official said.
In May, an Etihad Airways aircraft flew from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv to deliver the coronavirus to the Palestinians, marking the first known flight of a carrier from the United Arab Emirates to Israel.
The agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates awaits negotiations on major points such as the opening of embassies, industry and ties before it is officially signed.
Reporting through Rami Ayyub, Steven Scheer and Tova Cohen in Tel Aviv and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing via Nick Macfie
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