In a first, an Israeli commercial flight flew over Saudi airspace overnight Monday on its way to a non-Gulf destination.

The Arkia Airlines flight departed Ben-Gurion Airport after 1 a.m. and landed on the island country of Seychelles off the coast of East Africa six hours later.

The groundbreaking flight came over a month after Saudi Arabia’s announcement during President Joe Biden’s visit to the kingdom that it is opening its airspace to all commercial flights.

בארקיע מודיעים שקבלו הלילה לראשונה אישור להוציא את טיסה IZ611 לאיי סיישל מעל שמי סעודיה. בקו האדום- הנתיב החדש, בקו הצהוב- הנתיב הרגיל. בסך הכל יחסכו כ- 15 דקות.

צריך להגיד גם את זה, נתיבים מעל סעודיה משמעותיים למזרח הרחוק 🇮🇱🇸🇦🇸🇨 pic.twitter.com/Pf57M1Wl9j

— איתי בלומנטל 🇮🇱 Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) August 22, 2022

The use of Saudi airspace shortened the flight to Seychelles only by about 20 minutes. Flights to further destinations that will be significantly shortened by flying over Saudi airspace, such as Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, and China, are awaiting the approval of Oman for Israeli planes to fly over its airspace since these flights require flying over both Saudi and Oman airspace.

Israel had expected Oman to grant permission to Israeli airlines to use its airspace following Riyad’s announcement but Muscat has so far refused to grant permission to do so due to heavy pressure from Iran, according to Israeli media outlets.

“Tonight, an Arkia plane will become the first Israeli licensed plane to fly over Saudi Arabia — not to Dubai, but to Seychelles,” Arkia’s head pilot Din Gal said prior to the flight.

“The route will go through Jordan in the area of the Dead Sea and turn left to Petra, continuing along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea shores. From there, it will continue on its regular route through Eritrea… We soon hope to see shorter flights to India and Sri Lanka.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)