Saudi Arabia allows overflights by UAE services to 'all countries'

Updated 03 Sep, 2020

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has agreed to allow UAE flights to "all countries" to overfly the kingdom, state media reported Wednesday, days after allowing an Israeli aircraft to pass over en route to Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Arabia has accepted an Emirati request to allow "crossing the kingdom's airspace for flights heading to the UAE and departing from it to all countries", the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing a source from the civil aviation authority.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile announced that Monday's historic first commercial flight of an Israeli aircraft direct to the United Arab Emirates across Saudi Arabia would not be the last.

"Israeli planes and those from all countries will be able to fly directly from Israel to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and back," Netanyahu said, without giving any timeline. The announcements come after a US-Israeli delegation visited Abu Dhabi on Monday, on the first direct commercial flight from Tel Aviv to mark the normalisation of ties between the Jewish state and the UAE. Saudi Arabia has said it will not follow the United Arab Emirates in establishing diplomatic ties with Israel until the Jewish state has signed an internationally recognised peace accord with the Palestinians.

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