The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Oman opened its airspace to all civilian airlines on Thursday, allowing Israeli carriers to use the Saudi-Oman corridor, which will shorten flight routes to some Asian destinations.
Saudi Arabia announced last year that it would open its airspace to all civilian aircraft, but Israeli airlines were unable to use the route due to restrictions imposed by Oman, which does not recognize Israel due to the Palestine issue.
“Enforcing international and local requirements against discrimination in dealing with civilian aircraft, the Civil Aviation Authority confirms that the sultanate’s airspace is open to all carriers that meet the requirements of overflying,” Oman’s CAA said in a statement on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has welcomed the decision of Oman’s ruler Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said and described it as a “historic decision that will shorten the route to Asia, lower costs for Israelis, and help Israeli airlines be more competitive”.
The corridor will not only shorten the flight route, according to Israeli flag carrier El Al (ELAL.TA), but it will also consider opening new routes to Australia and restarting flights to India.
Earlier, on the other hand, the Australian government scraped the move of recognizing West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and stressed peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.
