Dispute between Saudi Arabia and Israel, abruptly stopped flight

- If you choose a route from Israel to Dubai other than Saudi Arabia, it may take more than 8 hours instead of 3

New delhi date. Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Saudi Arabia abruptly closed its airspace to Israeli flights on Tuesday. Due to this, the flight of Israel Airlines at Ben Gurion Airport was delayed by 5 hours before leaving for Dubai. Saudi Arabia gave no reason for this.

The Israeli flight was scheduled to take off at 9 a.m. local time, but Saudi Arabia refused to issue the required permits. Al-Israel's flight then departed for Dubai on Tuesday afternoon with permission to fly from Saudi airspace. The reason why Saudi Arabia did not issue the permit is not clear.

Saudi Arabia said in November it would allow Israeli flights to use its airspace for Dubai, but the decision came just hours before the first flight from Tel Aviv to Dubai took off on Tuesday. If the route from Israel to Dubai is chosen other than Saudi Arabia, it may take more than 8 hours instead of 3.

Commercial flights between Israel and the UAE began immediately after the Abraham agreement. The agreement normalized relations between Israel and the UAE. Later, in addition to Morocco and Sudan, Bahrain also joined the landmark agreement.