El Al Israel Airlines has been forced to cancel its rescue flights to Dubai, the company announced on Friday morning, after Israeli airlines' permission to land there was revoked by the authorities.
El Al stated that, as soon as official permission is granted for the rescue flights to resume, it would be implementing the planned flights to bring stranded Israelis home.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Ministry said that "following coordination with all relevant parties, it was agreed that flights operated by Israeli airlines from Dubai to Israel would begin on Friday, October 2. However, due to the need to complete the necessary preparations and coordination by security officials for the operation of the flights, a delay is expected in the departure of the repatriation flights from Dubai.
“Citizens currently in Dubai should remain in contact with the airlines through which their tickets were booked and follow their instructions and updates,” the ministry added.
According to estimates, more than 10,000 Israelis are stranded in Dubai and at other destinations from which they had been expected to return to Israel via the United Arab Emirates.
Later on Friday, Israir announced that it had received the final approvals from the Emirati authorities and that flights would be departing from Israel to Dubai during the day. No similar announcement was made by El Al.
Flydubai altercation leads to emergency landing in Saudi Arabia
On Wednesday, a flydubai aircraft that departed Dubai for Tel Aviv was diverted and landed in Saudi Arabia following an altercation between the captain and the copilot.
During the incident, one of them was stabbed, prompting the activation of the distress signal.
The aircraft initially disappeared from flight tracking systems, raising concerns that it had been hijacked. However, after several tense moments, the circumstances surrounding the incident became clearer, and the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.