The request came in a letter on Wednesday from El Al’s chief executive to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), in which he said he has also approached Israel’s prime minister. Granting an Israeli airline access to its air space by lifting a 70-year-old ban, however, would mark a dramatic diplomatic shift. There has been no official announcement whether Air India has received permission to fly over Saudi soil for its proposed thrice-weekly flights. El Al currently flies four weekly flights to Mumbai, but these take seven hours rather than five as they take a route south towards Ethiopia and then east to India, avoiding Saudi airspace. Air India has not received any communication yet from the aviation regulator, a company spokesman said when asked whether the airline had received permission to operate flights to Israel over the Saudi airspace.

Source: bd News24 March 01, 2018 11:37 UTC