Emirates is to add a third daily flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv less than a year after the airline launched its first-ever commercial service to Israel.
The Dubai-based carrier said it has already carried more than 180,000 passengers on the route since its launch on June 23, 2022, and demand is continuing to outstrip capacity.
Israeli media report that Emirates will offer an additional 360 seats per day by adding a third daily flight serviced by a Boeing 777-300 from May 1. The flight timings for the third daily service have been optimised for onward connections from Dubai to Australia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Emirates originally tried to launch its Tel Aviv service in late 2021 but was scuppered by pandemic travel restrictions, which pushed the launch date back to June 2022.
Little more than a month after launching the route, however, and Emirates was planning a double daily service which started last October.
Regular commercial flights between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel seemed almost unthinkable until 2020, when the two countries unexpectedly normalised diplomatic relations with the signing of the Abraham Accords.
The new diplomatic relationship has been a boon for both business and tourism and earlier this month, the UAE’s ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said he was looking at ways to improve the “promising relationship” with the UAE.
Almost a year before launching its own flights to Israel, the airline had already set up a special Kosher food preparation facility at its flight catering headquarters in Dubai. The facility not only provides Kosher-certified food for Emirates and flydubai flights but also supplies hospitality venues across Dubai.
The popular route is also served by multiple daily services from flydubai, El Al, Israir Airlines and Arkia.
