Israir's inaugural flight from Tel Aviv lands in Dubai

It's the first Israeli airline to fly commercially between Israel and Dubai

An Israir A320 aircraft parked beside Emirates jets at DXB after successfully landing the airline's inaugural flight to the UAE from Tel Aviv. Courtesy Dubai Government Media Office

Israir Airlines is the first Israeli airline to fly commercially from Tel Aviv to Dubai.

The Israeli airline's inaugural flight to the UAE landed at Dubai International Airport just after 5pm on Tuesday, December 1.

Flight 6H663 arrived in Dubai with 166 passengers on-board. The airline had received permission to operate via Saudi Arabian airspace only a few hours before its maiden flight to Dubai.

Departing Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv at 10am, local time, the flight was the first commercial service by the Israeli airline to Dubai International Airport. It is set to operate up to 14 flights per week on this route via its Airbus A320 aircraft.

The launch of the new services coincided with the beginning of the festive season. This is typically a busy period for DXB in terms of passenger numbers. Both Emirates Airline and Dubai Airports said they were expecting a rise in passenger numbers over the National Day public holidays, and continuing for the next two weeks.

Israir’s inaugural flight is part of a broader engagement between the UAE and Israel to further peace, dialogue and stability and promote sustainable development, said a release from the Government of Dubai Media Office.

Since the signing of the Abraham Accord between the UAE and Israel on September 15, several airlines have announced plans to operate flights between the two countries.

Etihad, the UAE's national airline, will commence flights between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv in March 2021. The Abu Dhabi airline made history when it operated the first commercial passenger flight by a GCC airline to and from Tel Aviv in October.

Flydubai was the first airline to offer scheduled passenger flights between the two countries. The low-cost airline launched twice-daily service from Dubai International Airport to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport on November 26.

Israel's El Al will commence 14 weekly flights from Tel Aviv to Dubai from December 13 and Arkia Israeli Airlines also plans to operate daily flights to the UAE in December.