Israel and Egypt inaugurated on Sunday a first direct air link between the cities of Tel Aviv and Sharm el-Sheikh, the Egyptian seaside resort located on the Red Sea, announced the Israeli national company El Al.
“The first flight 5193 of the Sun Dor company of the El Al group, bound for Sharm el-Sheikh, takes off this morning at 10:15 a.m. from Ben Gurion airport (07:15 GMT), it is the first flight of an airline towards Sharm el-Sheikh,” El Al said in a statement.
Direct flights already connect Israel’s Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv with that of Cairo, Egypt. The two countries have recently strengthened their relations.
In early October, a plane from the Egyptian flag carrier Egypt Air landed in Israel for the first time. Flights between the two countries were previously provided by a subsidiary of Egypt Air, Sinai Air, whose planes did not display the Egyptian flag.
Since coming to power last June, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has visited Egypt twice, in September to meet President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and last month for a Summit with the latter and Prince heir to the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.
This trilateral meeting was the first of its kind between the leaders of Egypt, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The three leaders discussed trilateral relations and recent developments on regional issues in the Egyptian seaside city of Sharm el-Sheikh, on the shores of the Red Sea, the Egyptian Presidency announced in a press release.
Since the normalization of its relations, in 2020, with the Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, Israel has inaugurated direct flights with these countries.
