El Al to Abu Dhabi

Whilst totally grounded until 30 September El Al was today expected to mount a special flight to Abu Dhabi (See BTN 17 August).


Reuters had said that amongst those on board would be Jared Kushner, senior adviser to President Donald Trump as well as being his son-in-law.

The flight number is listed as "LY971" on the online timetable, perhaps alluding to the UAE's country code, which is 971.

There are no official air links between Israel and the UAE, and it was unclear whether an Israeli airliner would be able to fly over Saudi Arabia, which has no official ties with Israel, considerably reducing the flight time.

The exact flight route and landing time were still being worked on, the US official said.  A Boeing 737-900 is expected to be used for the flight.

In May, an Etihad Airways plane flew from the UAE to Tel Aviv to deliver coronavirus supplies to the Palestinians, marking the first known flight by a UAE carrier to Israel.

The Israel-UAE deal is awaiting negotiations on detail.

www.elal.com

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