The first commercial flight to Israel by a carrier from the United Arab Emirates landed in Tel Aviv, a move that is seen improving relations.
The Emirates' Etihad Airways plane touched down at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport early Monday morning. A few moments later, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner took off back to Abu Dhabi, Israel's aviation authorities said.
The plane, with only the crew aboard, picked up tourism officers from Tel Aviv for a two-day visit in the UAE organized by Israeli company Maman Group, a representative for the Israel Airports Authority said.
In a statement, the IAA said that as a travel-trade mission, the flight would bring a group of tourism industry leaders...travel agents, along with media to experience Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE, at the invitation of Etihad Airways and representatives of Abu Dhabi's tourism industry," RepublicWorld reported.
In the normalization of ties, Etihad said it would look into regular commercial flights between the two countries in the future. Etihad said the carrier became the first non-Israeli flight in the Middle East to unveil a dedicated Hebrew online portal for the Israeli market.
Israel and UAE plan to officially seal an agreement Tuesday, under which 28 passenger flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai or Abu Dhabi could be operated every week, the IAA statement read.
Etihad planes had landed at the Israeli airport in May and June with medical supplies to help Palestine with the coronavirus outbreak. Palestine, which is against the agreement that Tel Aviv made with UAE, declined to receive the medical package.
Bahrain also forged a deal to enhance ties with Israel on Sept. 15 at the White House alongside the Emirates. Bahrain and the UAE are the third and fourth Arab nations to initiate peace with Israel. Jordan and Egypt signed a peace accord with the Jewish nation in 1979 and 1994, respectively.
