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Air India denies ‘any confirmation’ for flights to Israel using Saudi Airspace

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Israeli press had reported an approval by Saudi authorities for using Saudi airspace for direct New Delhi-Tel Aviv flights  

India’s flagship airline said Tuesday it had not received approval for direct flights to Israel over Saudi airspace, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters an agreement for such a route had been reached.

“We have not received any confirmation. We have only submitted our request for a flight. We have yet to receive anything from authorities,” Air India spokesman Praveen Bhatnagar told i24NEWS on Tuesday.

Government sources also said that no confirmation had been given, and that there is no new information regarding ongoing talks on the matter.

The statement came hours after Netanyahu revealed that an agreement had been reached during a briefing with Israeli reporters in Washington DC shortly after his meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu had told reporters that Saudi Arabia has given Air India approval to fly through its airspace on flights between Israel and India.

Jerusalem Post had reported that after his meeting with US President Donald Trump, Netanyahu said that Air India signed an agreement that day enabling the flights to and from Israel over Saudi Arabia.

Air India had announced that it plans to start direct flights to Israel and has proposed to travel through closed Saudi airspace, a report in Al Arabiya English said. This was followed by appeals from El Al, the Israeli airline, to be granted similar rights, the report added.

 

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