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Oman opens airspace to Israeli flights, following Saudi Arabia

Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has thanked the Sultan of Oman and the Biden administration for an airspace agreement that will shorten Israeli flight times to Asia considerably.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images
A picture taken on Aug. 31, 2020, shows the El Al airliner that will carry a US-Israeli delegation to the UAE following a normalization accord lifting off from the tarmac in the first-ever commercial flight from Israel to the UAE at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. — JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Oman announced on Thursday that it will open its airspace to all carriers — including Israel's — that meet the safety requirements of its civil aviation authority.

The Omani announcement did not refer to Israel specifically, but the news means that Israeli aircrafts will be authorized to fly through its skies. Last July, Saudi Arabia made a similar announcement, authorizing all carriers to pass through its airspace. Similarly, the Saudi announcement did not mention Israel, but the decision clearly enabled Israeli flights to pass through its skies.

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