Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

UAE's Etihad Starts Direct Passenger Flights to Israel


Tue 06 Apr 2021 | 11:21 PM
Ahmad El-Assasy

Etihad Airways, the state carrier of Abu Dhabi, has begun direct commercial passenger flights from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv, Israel, marking the latest direct air connection between the two countries, which formed diplomatic ties last year.

On the inaugural flight were UAE Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja and Israel's head of mission in the UAE Eitan Na'eh.

The UAE state news agency WAM quoted Khaja as saying, "As our countries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we have lots to look forward to in economic, political, technical, health, and tourism exchanges."

WAM announced on Tuesday that it had launched a Hebrew-language news service, making it the first Arab news organization to do so, with coverage focusing on bilateral ties between the UAE and Israel.

Etihad said it will start with two weekly flights between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi, which has placed Israel on its green list of countries, which means tourists won't have to quarantine due to the coronavirus. Direct flights have also been launched by other UAE and Israeli airlines.

As part of a US-brokered deal, the UAE and Bahrain normalized ties with Israel in September.