Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

UAE airline to start direct flights to Israel, no visa necessary

“Scheduled flights will contribute to economic development and create further opportunities for investment in pursuit of our shared interests and values,” said flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith.

A Flydubai Boeing 737-800. Source: Wikipedia Commons.
A Flydubai Boeing 737-800. Source: Wikipedia Commons.

United Arab Emirates’ low-cost airline carrier flydubai announced on its website that it would begin direct flights twice a day to Israel starting on Nov. 26.

Chief executive officer at flydubai Ghaith Al Ghaith said on Wednesday that “since the launch of flydubai 11 years ago, we have been committed to removing barriers to travel, creating free flows of trade and tourism and enhancing connectivity between different cultures across our network.”

“Following the recent bilateral agreement, the start of scheduled flights will contribute to economic development and create further opportunities for investment in pursuit of our shared interests and values,” said Ghaith.

Emirates, UAE’s largest airline, was quoted by Reuters as saying that it, too, will sell tickets on the flydubai route, according to a spokeswoman.

UAE and Israeli citizens can visit each other’s countries visa-free, owing to the recently signed Abraham Accords.

Tickets between Dubai and Tel Aviv can be purchased on its website, flydubai.com.

Ignoring the connection between anti-Zionism and Jew-hatred “is a big evasion, very disappointing,” Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch told JNS. “I think that the mayor knows better.”
The co-pilot reportedly sought to seize control of the Tel Aviv-bound plane and was subdued by crew members and passengers.
“Zionism is a lightning rod issue,” but “it’s also a fundamental part of Jewish identity, and most Jews in Montgomery County and beyond believe that Israel is a core part of their Jewish identity,” one signatory told JNS.
The Israeli envoy to the global body told JNS that the United Nations must confront antisemitism “with the same seriousness as every other form of racism.”