Direct UAE-Israel flights launch delayed to January

Direct UAE-Israel flights launch delayed to January

Direct flights between Israel and the UAE, slated to begin in October after a landmark normalisation deal, are to be postponed until January because of coronavirus, an Israeli official said Tuesday.

The air link announced after the two states signed the deal at the White House last month aims to open up tourism and new business ventures despite the Covid-19 slowdown.

Announcement comes after the first direct commercial flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi on Monday

But a second lockdown in Israel, which now has one of the world's highest infection rates per capita, has put plans on hold, denting hopes for quick gains.

"I feel with the Covid that we're kind of running with our hands behind our backs," Jerusalem's deputy mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum told AFP during a visit to Dubai, a