Israeli airspace will now be use by multitude of Arab countries, including Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as part of a new aviation agreement between Israel and Jordan.
Jerusalem and Amman on Thursday signed a deal to open more flight paths over both countries and shorten flight times between Gulf states, the Far East and Asia and Europe and North America.
3 View gallery
New flight paths over Israeli airspace opened by new Israel, Jordan accord
(Photo: Courtesy)
The agreement signed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel and its Jordanian counterpart will take effect as soon as Friday, is expected to cut fuel costs and polluting emissions, and was finalized following Israel's signing of the Abraham accords with the UAE and Bahrain.
Among the new flight paths specified in the agreement are ones departing from Iraq, Qatar and Saudi Arabia as well as the UAE and even one path over Iran that would be used by flights taking off from China.
3 View gallery
An Emirati official stands near an El Al plane that ferried an American-Israeli delegation to the Abu Dhabi last month
(Photo: AFP)
Israel will approve airline flight paths in advance in accordance with security considerations.
The agreement was reached with the cooperation of EUROCONROL, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation.
The Ministry of Transportation said flights from Bahrain and the UAE as well as many other countries would be able to fly over Israeli airspace to and from Europe and North America.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev said the agreement shows Israel's growing integration into the Middle East.
"We are forging new roads of cooperation with countries that share our interests and our vision for regional peace, in transportation, economy and the political fields," she said.