Israel-UAE flights could be suspended due to security concerns

The direct route from Tel Aviv to Dubai was made possible due to a normalisation of relations brokered in 2020

Israel has announced that its carriers will not be able to maintain a full flight schedule to Dubai from Sunday 13 February 2022 due to security concerns.

In a public letter, El Al and fellow Israeli carriers, Israir and Arkia called on the Israeli government to intervene and secure “an additional allocation of security tags, to an extent that will allow the Israeli companies to handle the entire planned flight schedule”.

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The airlines also presented the option of  rerouting flights away from Dubai to nearby Abu Dhabi or other airports to ensure fair competition

Between them, the three carriers operate 10 flights a day to Dubai. If the current security concerns aren’t resolved, only three Israeli flights will be permitted daily, and Israeli security services have said that flights will stop completely by 8 March 2022.

UAE national carrier Etihad Airways and Abu Dhabi-based Wizz Air fly from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv and Dubai’s low-cost carrier Flydubai operates direct Dubai-Tel Aviv flights. Emirates is yet to launch flights to Israel. 

The news comes just after Israel scooped the second most represented destination in the inaugural MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants list, with the awards ceremony hosted in Abu Dhabi on 7 February 2022. Dubai was the most represented destination with 19 of the 50 venues in the emirate.

The popular restaurant listing, known to inspire travel among foodie communities, is likely to increase food-motivated travel between the destinations should the direct flight connections remain in service.