Israel's Arkia to start Dubai flights from Jan 3
DUBAI, October 27, 2020
Arkia, Israel's second-largest airline, has announced plans to start direct flight services to Dubai from January 3, 2021.
The announcement follows the historic peace accord signed between the UAE and Israel on September 15.
The fares for the new flight will start at $149 (Dh547) for a one-way ticket, said a Khaleej Times report said quoting an Arkia statement. The flight will cover the distance between Tel Aviv to Dubai in three to four hours.
The Israeli airline is also exploring the possibility of launching flights to Bahrain and Sharjah. The flight lines are pending approval from authorities, which is expected to be issued soon, the statement said.
Last week, Etihad Airways launched the first commercial flight from the UAE to Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport outside of Tel Aviv to become the first Gulf-based carrier to operate a commercial passenger flight to and from Israel.
Oz Berlowitz, CEO of Arkia, said in a statement that the decision to start direct flights to Dubai was made after "increasing requests from the airline's customers, private business clients and many requests from groups organizing conferences".
Arkia has signed deals with tourism companies in the UAE to offer holiday packages.
Arkia's announcement came soon after the two countries agreed to enable 28 weekly direct flights between their airports, said the Khaleej Times report.
