Israeli flights to fly over Saudi Arabia: minister

JERUSALEM, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Minister of Transport and Intelligence Yisrael Katz said Wednesday that he believed Israeli flights will fly over Saudi Arabia in future.

"I believe that the skies will be open to all Israeli companies," said Katz at an aviation conference organized by the Israel Pilots Association.

"Opening the skies above Saudi Arabia represents an important achievement that cannot be taken for granted," Katz was quoted by the Israeli business media Globes as saying.

In March, Air India flight AI 139 from Delhi to Tel Aviv made a historic flight and became the first commercial flight to fly to Israel over Saudi Arabia.

It is reported that the flight flew over the airspace of Oman, Saudi Arabia and Jordan in seven and a half hours, two hours shorter than circumventing Saudi Arabia.

After the flight of Air India, Israel's flag carrier El Al Airlines petitioned for equal terms to its rivals in operating flights between Israel and Asia.

Katz also expected to start direct flights from Israel to more countries, including Japan and Singapore.

"Flights will be faster and can cover significantly more distances with direct flights to Japan, Singapore and more places, which will strengthen transportation," Katz said. Enditem