On August 13th 2020,The UAE and Israel announced that they would be normalising relations between the two countries. The news stated that the first commercial flight between Israel and the UAE would take place on the 31st of August, Following the return flight from the UAE. It is understood that El Al (The Israeli National Carrier) will now start operating cargo flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai.

EL AL 971 & EL AL 972

On August 31st a historic flight took place;El Al 971 (a nod to the UAE’s telephone code), a Boeing 737-900ER registered 4X-EHD, departed Tel Aviv for Abu Dhabi. This flight was the first direct flight from Israel to the UAE and the first Israeli aircraft to cross Saudi Airspace.

The aircraft had the word ‘peace’ painted in Arabic, English and Hebrew to mark the historic occasion. On September 1st; El Al 972 departed Abu Dhabi for Tel Aviv, it crossed Saudi airspace and landed back in Israel at 17:37 local time.

Tel Aviv-Dubai cargo flights

The peace deal between the UAE and Israel will benefit both nations economically, this is because both countries can work together on sectors such as tourism, agriculture and technology.

El Al’s new cargo route will help accomplish this, from the 16th of September a Boeing 747 will operate flights and will be used to carry cargo to Dubai with the cargo staying in Dubai or is to be flown to other countries.

There will be one weekly service with the outbound flight leaving Israel on Wednesdays and returning from Dubai on Fridays. However with El Al only having one cargo 747 it is understood that the airline will be using an Atlas Air 747-400F for its Tel Aviv-Dubai service.

What do you think of this news? Do you think that we will see anymore countries normalising relations with Israel, enabling El Al to expand in the Middle East? Do you think that we will be hearing from Etihad and Emirates about new flights to Israel? Let us know what you think in the comments below.