Israel’s El Al inks cooperation MOU with Gulf Air

Following on from the normalisation of ties between Israel and Bahrain, El Al Israel Airlines (LY, Tel Aviv Ben Gurion) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Gulf Air (GF, Bahrain Int’l) which will lead to their starting scheduled flights between the two countries in early 2021. A joint statement said the MOU sets the foundation to discuss potential joint codeshare operations between Bahrain Int’l and Tel Aviv Ben Gurion, as well as on the global flight networks beyond the two carriers’ hubs and contains plans for greater commercial cooperation in the fields of loyalty, cargo, engineering, travel technology and any area that could benefit both airlines and their customers. Subject to government approvals, Gulf Air has taken the initiative and will operate 2x weekly flights between Bahrain and Tel Aviv from January 7, 2021. Gulf Air has also signed a line maintenance agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries for the provision of post- and pre-flight services, daily maintenance, and support for any technical issues for its aircraft during their time in Tel Aviv. One key sticking point that could have thrown a damper on Israeli carriers’ plans to start flights to Bahrain, as well as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was Saudi air transit rights. According to Trump administration sources who spoke to Reuters last week, the Netanyahu administration had asked Washington to persuade Saudi Arabia to allow Israeli carriers to transit its airspace en-route to the UAE and Bahrain despite a lack of diplomatic relations between the two states. The requisite consent was given shortly before Israir’s inaugural flight to Dubai Int’l was due to leave. Israir is also due to start regular flights between Tel Aviv and Bahrain in late January of next year.