The flag of Oman. Own work. From the Open Clip Art website.
On February 23, Oman’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced that the Gulf Arab state’s airspace will be open for all civilian carriers, in a move that will allow for overflights to and from Israel.
“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,” the CAA said in a statement on Twitter.
Saudi Arabia, which like Oman does not have formal relations with Israel, opened its airspace to all civilian carriers last year.
Now, with Oman joining in, Israeli carriers will be able to utilize a Saudi-Oman corridor to cut flight times to Asia. Israeli flag carrier El Al said that beyond shortening current flight times, it would now examine opening new routes to Australia and restarting flights to India.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen thanked Oman’s ruler Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said and described the decision to open the Omani airspace as a “historic decision that will shorten the route to Asia, lower costs for Israelis and help Israeli airlines be more competitive”.
Oman does not officially recognize Israel. However, it has maintained some level of relations with the state since at least 1994.
In October 2018, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met late Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said in Muscat. The visit was revealed following Netanyahu’s return to Israel.
The United States was reportedly behind the Saudi decision to open the Kingdom’s airspace to Israel carriers. It’s still unclear if the administration of President Joe Biden played a similar role in the Omani decision.
