Approval of Israeli flights over Oman 'significantly delayed'

Israel's National Security Council has informed Israeli airlines of an expected significant delay in obtaining approval from Oman to use its airspace due to Iranian influence, according to a report in Hebrew media.

The expected shortening of flight times to Asian destinations will thus have to wait after hopes were raised last month when Saudi Arabia announced that it would open its skies to all airlines, including Israeli flights.

The hope was that Oman opening its airspace would be a formality after the Saudi move, significantly reducing travel time to destinations in the far east such as India, Thailand and China. Flights from Tel Aviv to Asia had to previously avoid the Arabian Peninsula, adding between two to three hours of travel time.

El Al's Chief Executive Officer, Dina Ben-Tal Ganancia, said earlier this month that approval for the Saudi-Oman corridor was expected "in a matter of days." 

She had previously announced in late July that the airline intended to launch direct flights to Dublin, Tokyo and Melbourne, with the Tokyo and Melbourne routes contingent upon Saudi Arabia opening its airspace.

Since the establishment of the Abraham Accords that normalized relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain (with the later additions of Morocco and Sudan), Saudi Arabia has allowed Israeli carriers to fly over its territory for direct flights to the UAE and Bahrain, but not to other destinations.