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El Al to fly first commercial run from Israel to UAE

Flight there on Boeing 737-900 numbered LY971 • Return flight to Ben-Gurion Airport numbered LY972 for respective calling codes.

An El Al Boeing 737-900 plane. Credit: Nicky Boogaard via Wikimedia Commons.
An El Al Boeing 737-900 plane. Credit: Nicky Boogaard via Wikimedia Commons.

El Al Airlines is scheduled to operate the first commercial flight between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

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 737-900 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 “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.

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