Historic Flight to «Israel» Over Saudi Arabia Takes Off From India

Local Editor

Air India's inaugural flight to the "Israeli" entity is due to take off from New Delhi on Thursday, as the 256-seater Boeing 787 Dreamliner overflies Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf states, countries with which the entity has no diplomatic relations, the Foreign Ministry said.

Overflying Saudi Arabia will considerably shorten flight times between the "Israeli" and India. The maiden flight is due to leave New Delhi at 6 P.M. Indian time Thursday and arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport at 9:45 P.M. "Israel" time, according to the Air India website. Earlier this month the company said it planned to fly the Delhi-Tel Aviv route three times a week.

The so-called "Israeli" Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the entity considers the new route important, noting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the matter of the route with his counterpart, Narendra Modi, when the two met in July in the entity and the following January in India. The ministry said the route would also lower fares and boost investment and tourism from India to the "Israeli" entity.

El Al flies four weekly flights to Mumbai, but these take seven hours rather than five as they fly south toward Ethiopia and then east to India, avoiding Saudi airspace.

El Al has appealed to the United Nations over a bid to reroute its services between Tel Aviv and India through Saudi airspace as well. El Al CEO Gonen Usishkin said in a letter to the International Civil Aviation Organization that it would be discriminatory for the Saudis to let Air India enter its airspace and not El Al.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team