The Ministry of Transportation announced overnight that a special framework had been approved to return Israeli citizens currently staying in the United Arab Emirates.
The agreement was reached after a direct conversation between Benjamin Netanyahu and the leader of the UAE, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
As part of the operation, special rescue flights will be operated free of charge for Israelis currently staying in the Emirates.
The flights will be carried out in cooperation with Emirati airlines and will depart for Israel and other destinations once the gradual reopening of the airspace begins.
At the same time, Israeli airlines announced that they would operate according to the Ministry of Transportation’s framework for outbound flights from Israel starting this morning. At this stage, the number of passengers on departing flights will be limited to 70 passengers per flight.
El Al stated that the company will proactively contact foreign customers (who are not Israeli residents) whose flights were canceled and will rebook them, at no additional cost, on rescue flights to 22 different destinations around the world. The company emphasized that ticket sales for departing flights will not open at this time until all passengers whose original flights were canceled have been reassigned.