An official Israeli request to cross flights over Saudi Arabia

Israeli airlines intend to expand and open new routes to India and other Asian destinations, after Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to all airlines, in a move that will save fuel costs and reduce flight time.

Riyadh announced on Friday that its airspace will be open to all airlines, in what is considered a real expansion of the overflight rights of Israeli planes, which previously only crossed Saudi airspace to Gulf destinations such as the UAE, to include various Asian routes as well.

Accordingly, the two Israeli airlines, El Al, and its smaller competitor, Arkia, submitted an official request to cross Saudi airspace, according to what the two companies announced today.

Existing routes to India and Thailand, popular with the Israelis, avoid crossing Saudi airspace by flying south over the Red Sea around Yemen.

For his part, Israeli Tourism Minister Yoel Razbozov told Army Radio today that flights over Saudi Arabia will likely start “in a few weeks” after the necessary logistics are settled.

“Flight tickets will eventually be around 20% cheaper,” he added.