Israel-bound plane flies over Saudi Arabia for first time

Saudi Arabia has opened its airspace for the first time to an Israel-bound passenger plane, breaking a 70-year-ban on commercial jets flying over the Arab kingdom to reach the Jewish state.

While Riyadh does not formally recognise Israel, Thursday night’s touchdown by the Air India flight in Tel Aviv signalled a thawing of relations between the two countries which share a common enemy in Iran.

“This is a historic evening. The Israeli skies are connecting with the Saudi Arabian skies in one direct flight,” the Israeli transport minister, Yisrael Katz, said when the jet landed at Ben Gurion airport.

“We are celebrating the strengthening relations with India and the first civilian connection with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.”

There was no confirmation that other airlines, including the Israeli flagship carrier El Al, whose planes have to fly under the Gulf and up the Red Sea, will be granted airspace access. Avoiding Saudi Arabia typically adds hours to Israel-bound flights.

Riyadh has not yet formally acknowledged granting overflight rights, but aircraft trackers show the jet crossed its territory.

Air India 139 took off from Delhi, and the Boeing Dreamliner flew over the kingdom for three hours, passing just west of the Saudi capital, according to the Flightradar24 monitoring app.

Tracking showed the airliner had earlier flown over Oman, which also does not have official diplomatic relations with Israel.

In his first foreign presidential trip, Donald Trump flew from Riyadh to Tel Aviv on Air Force One.

His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has a rapport with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and they have discussed a possible peace plan for Israel and Palestine. However, after the White House recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the Palestinian leadership rejected the US as a broker and has also become distrustful of Saudi Arabia.