Israeli plane crosses Saudi airspace to South Africa: Israeli media

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
2 Sep 13:45

Israeli media is talking about a flight of the Israeli El Al crossing Saudi airspace on its way to South Africa.

An El Al flight to Johannesburg

Israeli media reported Friday that an Israeli commercial flight flew over Saudi Arabia's airspace to the South African capital, Johannesburg.

An El Al flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, passed over Saudi Arabia for the first time this morning, shortening the flight path by a few minutes, as per the Israeli website Rotter.

The website also noted that the Israeli airlines are still waiting for the final approval to fly over Oman - which will significantly shorten flights to many destinations.

A few days ago, Israeli media said that "the first flight of the Israeli "Arkia" airline crossed the Saudi airspace on its way to the island of Seychelles."

According to Flight Radar 24 website, which monitors aircraft movement, it was revealed that an Israeli plane landed in the Jordanian capital, Amman, before heading to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, in July, the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority decided to "open Saudi airspace to all air carriers," including Israeli carriers, that "meet the requirements for transiting the country's airspace."

On his part, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in July that relations with Saudi Arabia "are not Abrahamic agreements, but a process of normalization. It was important for us that the US administration bears responsibility for this matter as well."