Oman adopted examples set by a few of its Gulf and Arab neighbors to open its airspace to Israeli carriers Thursday.
In an official announcement, the Gulf state stated all airways may overfly its territory as of Thursday.
Israeli leaders hailed the announcement primarily as a achieve for civil aviation to Asia and Australia – moderately than any harbinger of a breakthrough in bilateral diplomacy with Muscat.
“Another great step toward regional integration … This is definitely a day of celebration for Israel,” tweeted Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.
Israel has been hoping Oman would possibly be part of the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords beneath which Israel established or upgraded relations with United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco in 2020.
While Saudi Arabia is staying out of the accords, the regional powerhouse has signaled tacit assist by letting Israeli airways overfly it en path to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, or Manama.
In July, U.S. President Joe Biden introduced that Riyadh would permit unfettered Israeli overflights. But implementation had been on maintain pending the settlement of Oman, because the Saudi hall extends over its territory for easterly routes.
“This historic step completes a process begun last year, during President Biden’s visit to the Middle East region,” stated a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council.
“For the first time in history, passengers flying to and from Israel will now be able to travel on direct routes between Israel, Asia and points in between.”
Oman’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) stated on Twitter that, “Enforcing international and local requirements against discrimination in dealing with civilian aircraft, the Civil Aviation Authority confirms that the sultanate’s airspace is open to all carriers that meet the requirements of overflying.”
Cohen stated the hall would shorten the flight time between Israel and Asia by greater than two hours. Flag provider El Al Israel Airlines stated it will look at opening new routes to Australia and restarting flights to India.
Oman has hosted Israeli leaders over time. But, like Riyadh, Muscat has stated that any normalization of relations with Israel would require progress on the Palestinians’ long-stalled statehood drive.
“For the Abraham Accords to be successful, you must include the Palestinian voice, which is missing from these agreements,” Oman Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi instructed Le Figaro each day in a May interview, a transcript of which was posted on his web site.
“Economic peace alone will not work.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
