UAE: first ever passenger flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel has landed near Tel Aviv, a month after the countries signed an agreement normalizing ties.
Etihad Airways Flight 9607 landed at Israel’s Ben-Gurion international airport just after 7am on Monday.
Etihad said it plans regular passenger flights between the countries in the future and was launching a dedicated Hebrew website.
The Israeli tourism professionals will be visiting the UAE for a two-day trip organised by Israeli company Maman Group, an airline spokesperson said.
Etihad said it plans to schedule regular passenger flights between the countries in the future and was launching a Hebrew website.
The United Arab Emirates carrier said it had made “history”.
“Etihad has become the first Gulf airline to operate a passenger flight to Israel. And this is only the beginning,” the airline said on Twitter.
What would be the response of Palestinians for this UAE flight in Israel?
In May and June, Etihad planes had landed in Ben-Gurion carrying medical supplies to help the Palestinians cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Palestinians, who object strongly to the agreement Israel forged with the UAE and Bahrain, rejected the aid.
In August, Israel and the UAE announced that they had reached a US-brokered deal to normalize ties, following years of discreet economic and security cooperation.
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, ratified the UAE deal last week.
The United Arab Emirates and Israel were due on Tuesday to sign an agreement to have 28 weekly commercial flights between the countries, a transportation ministry official said.
Nearby Gulf monarchy Bahrain also signed an agreement on Sept 15 at the White House alongside the UAE to normalize relations with Israel.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are the third and fourth Arab states to establish ties with Israel.
Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties with Israel in 1979 and 1994, respectively.