El Al to fly first commercial run from Israel to UAE
El Al Airlines is scheduled to operate the first commercial flight between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
El Al Boeing 777-258ER aircraft 4X-ECA. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The Israel Airports Authority website listed the flight on Friday. While the flight was announced earlier this week, the airliner to conduct it was unknown.
The Monday flight on a Boeing 737-800 will be numbered #LY971, referring to the UAE’s international calling code number, while a return flight to Ben-Gurion International Airport on Tuesday will be numbered #LY972, referring to Israel’s international calling code.
The development is a result of the Aug. 13 U.S.-brokered agreement to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE.
The flight, the first official direct trip from Israel to a Gulf Arab state, will carry members of the U.S. and Israeli delegations involved in the agreement, called the “Abraham Accord.”
Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat will lead the Israeli delegation. The American delegation will be led by White House senior adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, Mideast envoy Avi Berkowitz and U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, who is set to leave his position at the end of the month.
JNS
