Emirates set to commence flights to Tel Aviv

Emirates has announced that it plans to launch a daily service to Tel Aviv, Israel in December. This new route is a major step for the airline, as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) did not recognize Israel until August 2020, when a peace deal was signed between the two nations.

Following the signing of the peace deal, a number of airlines began operating flights between the two countries, however, in the case of Emirates, it decided to postpone the launch because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that things are settling down, Emirates will join flydubai with direct service between Dubai and Tel Aviv. 

Emirates was very eager to start services to Tel Aviv after the August 2020 peace deal. In March, the UAE-based carrier opened a Kosher catering facility with such flights in mind. However, the catering facility also does cater for other flights operated by the airline.

Emirates has finally stated publically that its first service to Tel Aviv in Israel will be on December 6th. The carrier added that it will operate this route daily using one of its Boeing 777-300ER in a three-class configuration. EK 931 will depart Dubai International (DXB) at 14:50 and arrive at Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) at 16:25 local time. While EK 932 will depart Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) at 18:25 and arrive at Dubai International (DXB) at 23:25 local time. 

Routes between Israel and the United Arab Emirates have flourished very quickly with Emirates becoming the 7th airline to schedule flights between the two countries for December. Emirates’ low-cost subsidiary, flydubai is the top operator between the two nations, with 248 flights scheduled for December or four rotations a day. 

Israir currently has 92 flights planned for the month, which is about one and a half rotations per day. In addition, Arkia (61 flights) and El Al (58 flights) will also be competing against Emirates. In terms of services from Abu Dhabi, Emirates would be competing with rival Etihad, which has 14 rotations planned between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv while Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has seven rotations planned. 

Among the airlines mentioned, there are currently 501 flights planned between Israel and the United Arab Emirates for December of this year. When Emirates’ new daily flights are added, this will increase services between the UAE and Israel by around 10% to 553 flights. With so many airlines competing with each other, it remains to be seen whether Emirates can capture a share of the market between the two nations.

Source: https://aeronewsx.com/emirates-set-to-commence-flights-to-tel-aviv/