The first ever direct commercial flight from Israel to the UAE today flew from Tel Aviv for Abu Dhabi.
Flight LY971, numbered to represent the UAE’s international dialling code, left Tel Aviv this morning and arrived in Abu Dhabi just over three hours later.
The return flight tomorrow is LY972, representing Israel’s international dialling code.
The three hour flight, carrying a delegation of Israeli and US officials, flew across Saudi Arabian airspace. It would have taken about seven hours if it was not allowed to fly across Saudia Arabia.
El Al painted a peace logo in Arabic, English and Hebrew on the Boeing 737-900 aircraft.
