UAE private carrier in direct flight from Saudi Arabia to Israel: reports

The flight will mark a rare occurrence of direct flights between the two countries.

1 min read

25 October, 2021

Saudi flag [Art in All of Us/Corbis/Getty]

A Gulf Air airplane from Bahrain arrives at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv [AFP/Getty]

A direct flight from the Saudi capital Riyadh will land on Monday evening at Ben-Gurion Airport, Israel's main airport, Israeli media have reported.

The aircraft is a Boeing Business jet - which can seat 46 people - owned by the Emirati company Royal Jet, a luxury charter company based in Abu Dhabi.

There are no commercial flights between Saudi Arabia and Israel, as the two states share no official relations. Israeli aircraft were banned from Saudi airspace until recently.

Israel signed normalisation agreements last year with several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates in September 2020, but not with Saudi Arabia.

However, since November 2020, Riyadh has allowed Israeli flights to use its airspace to reach destinations in the UAE. Several commercial lines between Israel, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi have opened since.