RIYADH – India’s state-run carrier Air India said Friday it will fly overSaudi airspace to Tel Aviv, a move that ends a decades-long Saudi ban onthe use of its airspace for flights to Israel.
The decision comes at a time of growing ties between India and severalMiddle Eastern countries, and after Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahuhinted at a diplomatic realignment in the region earlier this month.
“The Air India flights to Israel will start from March 22. The flights willtake around seven hours and five minutes, and fly over… Saudi airspace,”airline spokesman Praveen Bhatnagar told AFP.
The new route was announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lastJuly, with Netanyahu first suggesting in January the route could pass overSaudi Arabia.
Riyadh has no official ties with Tel Aviv, with Israel’s national carrierEl Al currently taking a detour over the Red Sea on its India service toavoid Saudi and Iranian airspace.
Netanyahu told reporters in Washington earlier this month that Air Indiahad reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia for the route.
The airline’s spokesman at the time confirmed the launch schedule for athrice-a-week service from New Delhi to Tel Aviv but couldn’t confirm theexact route.
*‘Common challenges’*
Flying over Saudi Arabia significantly shortens the flight time over theproposed route.
Riyadh has maintained public silence about suggestions the kingdom hascovert relations with Israel, but Netanyahu said earlier this month inWashington that Israel and the Arab states have “never been closer”.
“Most of the states in our region know – they know very well, believe me -that Israel is not their enemy, but their indispensible ally in confrontingour common challenges and seizing our common opportunities,” Netanyahu alsosaid at a public event in the US capital.
Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel last year, andhas pushed for investment, technology cooperation and closer defence tiesbetween the two countries.
Saudi Arabia and its immediate neighbourhood is also strategicallyimportant for India as the major source of the country’s energy imports.
The wider region also hosts millions of Indian migrant workers who sendbillions of dollars in remittances each year. Agencies