Several Israeli airlines were preparing special flights to bring Israelis back from Dubai after a midair cockpit attack on a FlyDubai flight to Tel Aviv halted the only direct service between the two cities. Thousands of Israelis are estimated to have remained in Dubai since the attack on Wednesday, according to David Sasi, a spokesman for Miri Regev, the Israeli transportation minister. FlyDubai suspended its service between Dubai and Tel Aviv after the attack.
Etihad, another Emirati airline, operates flights to Israel out of Abu Dhabi, the Emirati capital. Two Israeli airlines, Israir and Arkia, said Friday that they had obtained the required permissions to land at Dubai’s airport. Arkia said it planned to operate one flight to Dubai on Friday and another on Saturday.
El Al, Israel’s flag carrier, said it had been prepared to operate the special rescue flights on Friday but that authorities had suddenly canceled its permission. Investigators are still trying to understand what prompted the attack on Wednesday, during which the co-pilot stabbed the pilot on FlyDubai Flight 1073. The United Arab Emirates said on Thursday that it would take the lead in investigating whether the attack was linked to terrorism.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Thursday that the co-pilot, an Omani national, underwent Islamist radical indoctrination.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing