First Israeli flight overflies Saudi Arabia to non-Gulf destination

An Israeli commercial flight flew over Saudi Arabia's airspace early on Tuesday en route to the island country of Seychelles, marking the first time that an Israeli flight to a non-Gulf destination has taken such a route.

Arkia Israeli Airlines flight IZ611 departed from Israel's Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv overnight between Monday and Tuesday and crossed over Jordanian and Saudi airspace, shortening the flight duration by 20 minutes.

Since the signing of the 2020 Abraham Accords, in which the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain agreed to normalize ties with Israel, Saudi Arabia has allowed Israeli air carriers to overfly the kingdom to and from the UAE and Bahrain. In July this year, Saudi Arabia announced that it will open its airspace to all commercial flights from Israel. Israel and Saudi Arabia don't have official ties.