DUBAI: Emirates is to start daily flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv next month, the airline announced Thursday, in the latest sign of deepening relations since the UAE and Israel normalised ties in September last year.
The Dubai-based carrier, one of the largest in the world, said the new service to begin on December 6 would also link Israel seamlessly with its global route network. "December 6 will be our first landing into Israel," said the airline's public relations manager Rula Tadros.
Low-cost carrier Flydubai launched the first commercial flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai just a few months after last year's agreement. Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad and Israeli carrier Arkia now also offer regular flights.
The UAE's normalisation of its relations with Israel, in a deal brokered by then US president Donald Trump's administration, broke with decades of Arab consensus and infuriated the Palestinians and their supporters.