971 and 972 connected: Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi nonstop on El Al LY971

LY 971 Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi and LY 972 AUH to TLV nonstop flights on Israel El Al Airlines will be a first between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien will join the Israeli delegation next week on the first commercial flight between the two countries.  When in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, this delegation will have tourism and trade on its agenda.

According to a Google Flight Search, LY 971 is scheduled to depart Tel Aviv at 10.30 am Monday and land at 3.05 pm in Abu Dhabi. There is a one-hour time difference between the two countries. Just a year or so ago, Israel did not even appear on the inflight map of the UAE flag carrier Etihad Airways.

Israel’s flagship airline, in which the Israel government owns a golden share, is not known to have ever flown directly from Tel Aviv to the UAE ever.

In May an Etihad Airways cargo plane from Abu Dhabi made the first known commercial flight between the UAE and Israel in May with a humanitarian shipment for the Palestinians.

The El Al Flight on Monday is a result of the two countries agreed this month to establish diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by the United States of America.

Adding to the list of breakthroughs, the flight will be the first plane registered in Israel to cross Saudi Arabian airspace on its flight path to Abu Dhabi, according to a reporter for Israel’s Yediot Ahronot.

Saudi Arabia, which doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Israel, refuses to let Israeli carriers cross its airspace, lengthening the flight time to destinations to the east.

971 is the phone country code for the UAE, 972 the country code for Israel. LY 971 will operate Tel- Aviv to Abu Dhabi, LY 972 will be the return flight from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv.

Emirates had been already planning flights from Dubai to Tel Aviv making Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways nervous.