Dubai Airports receives delegation of Israeli aviation representatives

Dubai Airports received a delegation of representatives of Israeli airlines El Al, Israir and Arkia at its corporate offices on the morning of November 10.

The visit follows the signing of a number of bilateral agreements between the two countries, as well as the deal between the UAE and Israel to allow for 28 direct weekly passenger flights connecting Tel Aviv with Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Read: Direct flights between UAE and Israel to begin “within weeks”

“There is a lot of anticipation following the signing of the historic accords and both sides recognise the importance of enabling air connectivity as one of the first important steps to realising those expectations,” noted Jamal Al Hai, deputy CEO of Dubai Airports.

“Both sides are keen to open air travel as a first step towards facilitating people to people contact, tourism and trade, and accordingly our focus at the meeting was to understand the requirements of the airlines so that we can offer them and our mutual customers – the travellers, the top class experience that Dubai is known for worldwide.”

The two teams discussed preparations for the launch of new, direct air services between Dubai and Tel Aviv, including a twice daily service by El Al operating Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, six weekly flights by Israir operating the Airbus A320, and daily services by Arkia on the Embraer E-195 E-Jet aircraft, all scheduled for launch in December.

The new services will add an additional destination to Dubai International’s (DXB) existing global network of over 140 destinations, and opening major opportunities for cargo and trade between the two countries.

Dubai Airports is the operator of DXB and Dubai World Central (DWC).