After Muscat joined Riyadh last week in allowing Israeli civilian overflights, El Al Airlines announced that it would become the first Israeli national carrier on Sunday to use a new corridor over Saudi Arabia and Oman.
The flight took off for Bangkok with about 200 passengers and crew members on board, who, for the first time, flew over Oman and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. The flight took 7 hours and 34 minutes, two and a half hours less than previously.
While other flights were still anticipated to take the lengthier path over the Arabian Peninsula, two other flights that follow the same route are scheduled for Monday night.
The CEO of El Al, Dina Ben Tal Gnansia, said: “El Al is proud to be the first company to connect Israel to the east through the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and to carry the Israeli flag on the tail of its plane, above the skies of these countries. This is an unprecedentedly important achievement, which allows us to provide a better flight experience to our customers, along with the best service.”
The first flight’s pilots praised the “historic flight” just before takeoff in a video taken from the cockpit. One of the pilots said: “We will fly over the Arabian Peninsula, over Oman, the Israeli flag will fly over Oman for the first time. Our flight will become shorter by two and a half hours, which is very significant. We are launching the fast line to Bangkok and to the far east in general. We are very happy and excited to be here.” -i24 News
Did it smell the same as everywhere else?
Oh, man, eeee airspace