November 23 - El Al flights with Dubai begin on December13, 2020 the company announced. Days after reaching an agreement on code sharing and an MOU with Etihad and after Etihad announced it will begin flights in March 2021, El Al is moving forward with flights to Dubai. Details were tweeted online along with a poster from El Al showing Dubai. On November 19 Etihad said it was exploring more cooperation with El Al.
El Al wrote on its Facebook page "Skyscrapers, landscapes, spectacular beaches, luxury hotels, attractions and extremes. New! Direct flights to Dubai! As of 13.12.2020; 14 weekly flights to Dubai, UAE. Starting at $ 299 For more details and reservations, you can contact the travel agents and the EL AL website."
History of first flights
We covered the November 4 announcement by Fly Dubai of 14 weekly flights. Two UAE flights, one with the Etihad logo came to Israel in May and June 2020 bringing humanitarian supplies. Fly Dubai first landed in Israel on November 8. On August 31 an El Al flight named Kiryat Gat carried a "message of peace" to the UAE as the first flight from Israel. On October 19 the first commercial UAE flight arrived in Israel from the UAE. A Gulf Air flight also brought Bahrain's foreign minister to meet Pompeo on November 18. Gulf Air is expected to start flights to Manama. We covered the November 18 flight. Emirates may begin flights by January 2021.
Fourteen a week
Itay Blumental, a ynet news reporter and expert on aviation, wrote that the "company's 737 and 787 ("Dreamliner") aircraft. These are 14 weekly flights, 3 flights on Sundays and Thursdays, and two daily flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Friday." The news was greeted with support on social media. See here. Visa exemptions have also been approved.
For more see El AL announcement. Read the Etihad MOU agreement.
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