OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel is working on opening a corridor over Saudi Arabia for flights to the UAE, following last week's historic deal to normalise ties.

"We are working with maximum energy, and we have already begun to work on opening an air route over Saudi Arabia, which will simply shorten flights between Israel and the UAE," he said during a visit to Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv.

"I estimate that we will reach an agreement that will genuinely allow direct flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai," he said. "It is a major revolution."

In March 2018, Air India launched the first scheduled service to Israel allowed to cross Saudi airspace. It was seen at the time as a sign of a behind-the-scenes improvement in ties between the Arab kingdom and the Jewish state.

During a May 2017 Middle East tour, US President Donald Trump flew from Riyadh to Tel Aviv on Air Force One, in a first known direct flights from Saudi Arabia to Israel.