Gulf Air
Gulf AiriStock

Bahrain’s national airline, Gulf Air, announced on Sunday that it will provide direct flights between Bahrain and Israel starting in June.

According to a report in Mako, the first flight will take off from Bahrain to Tel Aviv on June 3 and land at Ben-Gurion Airport at 11:50 a.m.

The flights will be operated on an Airbus A320neo aircraft with two service classes: Business class, which will have 16 seats and cost $1,299, and tourist class, which will have 120 seats and will cost $299 for a seat.

The announcement follows the peace agreement between Israel and Bahrain as well as several meetings in recent months between Gulf Air and senior figures in the Israeli aviation industry.

In December, Bahraini Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Zayed bin Rashid Al-Zayani visited Israel, where he focused on promoting the possibility of Israeli tourism to Bahrain.

During the visit, Al-Zayani and Minister of Tourism Orit Farkash-Hacohen signed a historic MOU in the field of tourism.

The MOU is the first of its kind between Israel and the Arab states in the Gulf. It includes a number of sections on bilateral cooperation between the governments and the private sector in the field of tourism, and calls to develop various types of travel: for families, wellness, business, and others.

Israel reportedly expects its trade with Bahrain to be worth about $220 million in 2021, even before the defense and tourism deals between the two countries are considered.