Two days after Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to a chartered El Al airliner (the national carrier of Israel), the Arab country has officially announced that it would allow flights to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to operate over its territory. The announcement on Wednesday comes almost six weeks after the landmark diplomatic agreement between UAE and Israel, with the assistance of the United States of America.
This latest announcement by Saudi Arabia, which will give Israel access to some of the kingdom’s airspace for the first time, comes after the UAE requested the Kingdom to give access to its airspace. The peace deal, signed on August 13, formally normalised UAE’s relationship with the Jewish state, and hoped to bring other Arab nations on board to recognise Israel.
In a symbolic first direct flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi on Monday, the El Al airliner, carrying American and Israeli diplomats, entered the Saudi Arabia airspace 30 minutes after it departed from Israel. Only Air India flights are allowed to transit the Saudi airspace to reach Israel. The flight on Monday was the first time that Saudi Arabia allowed an Israeli commercial airline to use its airspace.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, called this a tremendous breakthrough. He added that this move would lead to robust tourism and make travel for Israelis more time effective. The decision by Saudi Arabia makes the route commercially viable and considerably reduces the usual seven-hour-long journey to travel to Asia.
Monday’s flight marks the latest sign of growing diplomatic and commercial ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which many hope will inspire other Arab nations that have long refused to acknowledge the Jewish state.
Both the nations announced this accord last month after decades of stalemate. The UAE is the third Arab nation and the first Persian Gulf country to establish normalised relations with Israel. Previously, Egypt signed a peace agreement with the country in 1979, followed by Jordan in 1994. As part of the 2020 peace agreement, Israel agreed to suspend its plans to annexe parts of the occupied West Bank.
However, Saudi Arabia officials maintained that this decision does not signal a change in their position regarding the Israel-Palestinian issue. Palestinian officials refused to comment on this announcement.