RIYADH – Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority denied on Wednesday anyauthorization for flights between India and Israel using its airspace.

Following a Reuters news report on the matter, a spokesman for the GeneralAuthority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in Saudi Arabia said the no authorityhas given permission to Air India.

Air India recently announced that it plans to start direct flights toIsrael and has proposed to travel through closed Saudi airspace.

A spokesman for Air India said the state-owned carrier had ordered threeflights a week between New Delhi and Tel Aviv. He added that the Indianairlines are waiting for approval to cross Saudi airspace in those flights.

Israeli airlines El Al currently operates four flights a week to Mumbai,but takes seven hours instead of five because they take a southern routetowards Ethiopia and then east to India, where they cannot cross Saudiairspace.