FlyDubai makes history with first commercial flight to Tel Aviv

FlyDubai makes history with first commercial flight to Tel Aviv

Flydubai aircraft lands at Ben Gurion Aiport near Tel Aviv. AFP

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

In a monumental move, UAE's budget airline flyDubai launched direct flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv.  

The first flight landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it "a moment of history."

"As-salaam alaikum (Peace be upon you)," he said to arriving passengers.

"Come again and again and again."

The flight is the first scheduled commercial service between the two cities following the normalisation of ties.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said that the service would foster "prosperity and progress" in the Middle East.

The airline said it would fly to Tel Aviv twice daily.

The UAE in September signed a landmark US-brokered deal to formalise relations with Israel, the first such agreement by an Arab state in the Gulf.

FlyDubai CEO Ghaith al-Ghaith said, "The start of scheduled flights will contribute to economic development and create further opportunities for investment."

UAE and Israeli citizens are now able to visit each others' country without applying for a visa before travelling.

"This opens up trade, economy, tourism and makes for a truly new Middle East, it is a meeting of two peoples," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a welcoming ceremony