Saudi Arabia says it will open its airspace to all air carriers, paving the way for more overflights to and from Israel – another sign that relations between the two countries are warming. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said on Thursday that the country’s airspace is now open to all carriers that meet its overflight requirements, in line with international conventions that say there should be no discrimination between political aircraft. The decision will “complement efforts aimed at consolidating the kingdom’s position as a global hub connecting three continents and enhancing international air connectivity,” GACA added in a statement. Riyadh’s announcement of an open skies policy will mean shorter flights from Asia to Israel, as airlines serving these routes will no longer be required to make long detours around Saudi Arabia en route to Israel. United States President Joe Biden, who is due to travel to the kingdom from Israel on Friday as part of a regional tour, welcomed the Saudi move. “This decision paves the way for a more integrated, stable, and secure Middle East region, which is vital to the security and well-being of the United States and the American people, as well as the security and well-being of Israel.” , said the White House National Security. Councilman Jake Sullivan said in a statement. Earlier on Thursday, a US official told Reuters that Saudi Arabia would soon grant Israeli airlines unfettered overflight access and allow direct charter flights from Israel to Muslims participating in the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
“Blooming Relationships”
Israel and Saudi Arabia do not have diplomatic relations and the kingdom does not recognize Israel as a state – a possible reason why the Saudi statement did not mention Israel by name. Behind the scenes, however, the two sides have been cooperating on security issues for some time, as both worry about the growing influence of their common enemy Iran in the region. Saudi Arabia has actually been allowing the use of its airspace for flights between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain since the two Gulf neighbors established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020 under US mediation. In 2020, Saudi Arabia’s air traffic control allowed an Israeli plane bound for India to cross its airspace to avoid bad weather, according to a report. In a guest op-ed for The Washington Post earlier this week, Biden said he was happy to be the first president to fly directly from Israel to the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Friday, calling the trip “a small symbol of relations and of blooming steps”. towards normalization between Israel and the Arab world.”
