Emirates, the largest airline and flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates, will start operating a regular flight to Israel in early December, using the Boeing 777, Israel Hayom reported Thursday, citing official sources. The company will not use its luxurious Airbus 380 on the 3 hour flight, with its luxurious departments that include showers, bedrooms, and bars.
The discount airline Flydubai already sells roundtrip flights from Tel Aviv to Dubai for $178 each way starting November 26 and plans to operate two daily flights – also, probably, without a shower. The price does not include meals and your luggage is limited to 7 kg.
So far, Israir, Arkia, and Flydubai have announced their ticket prices on the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight, all three pricing the two-way ticket at $350. The bigger airlines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, and El Al are expected to publish their flight details soon.
Under the agreement between Israel and the UAE, Israelis will be able to fly to and from the UAE without the need for a visa – 30 days after ratification. But it’s been speculated in the Israeli media that the two countries would start honoring the deal as soon as Israel ratifies it, and not be needlessly difficult about the visa requirement.
Emirates boats its Flextracks technology used to plan and optimize routes efficiency, and the Tailored Arrivals program that allows air traffic control to uplink to aircraft en route and determine the speed and flight profile from the air onto the runway, allowing the crew to accept and fly a continuous descent profile, saving fuel and emissions. The airline is the third-largest in the world in terms of international passengers carried, and the largest in the world in terms of scheduled international passenger-kilometers flown. It is also the second-largest in terms of scheduled freight ton-kilometers flown.
Emirates’ financial success has been attributed to rapid growth in demand for air travel in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia; the airline’s investment in state-of-the-art aircraft, and the availability of airport capacity that can be used 24 hours a day.