Saudia Arabia announced on Wednesday that all flights between Israel and the United Arab Emirates can traverse its airspace.
An official at the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation stated that it had approved the request by the aviation authority of the United Arab Emirates to allow all flights arriving and departing from the country to fly through Saudi airspace, the state Saudi press agency reported.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said after the report was published that the country’s support for a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital had not changed, according to Reuters.
The flight from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi takes approximately three hours via Saudi airspace, but up to eight hours if forced to use a roundabout route.
Israelis can now purchase tickets on the UAE’s national carrier, Etihad Airways, to destinations in the Middle East, Asia, Australia and elsewhere, following the U.S.-brokered normalization agreement between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi.
The flights offered to Israelis will not take off from Tel Aviv, however, but from Abu Dhabi, Israel’s business daily Globes reported on Tuesday.