Emirates will not allow passengers whose final destination is Tel Aviv to board flights to Dubai if they were scheduled to connect onto a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, The Zioneer reports. The policy follows the suspension of flydubai flights to Israel after a terror incident on Wednesday night.
Emirates has barred passengers whose final destination is Tel Aviv from boarding its flights to Dubai if they hold connecting flydubai tickets to Israel, following the suspension of flydubai flights after Wednesday night's terror incident. The Zioneer reports that according to JewishBreakingNewsTelegram (15:05 Jerusalem), passengers booked on itineraries such as New York–Dubai on Emirates and onward to Tel Aviv on flydubai will be denied boarding at their departure point to prevent stranding in Dubai. The restriction was initially reported by N12 (13:25 Jerusalem) and reaffirmed by multiple sources.
Earlier today, as The Zioneer reported at 13:33, Emirates announced a global restriction on Israelis boarding flights to Dubai from any international destination. By 13:58, this was confirmed to extend to connecting flights to Tel Aviv via Dubai. Following pressure from Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Emirates agreed at 14:32 to allow Tel Aviv-bound passengers to transit through Dubai for rescue flights once approved. However, the subsequent and ongoing suspension of flydubai services to Israel has closed that transit option for passengers booked on connecting flydubai itineraries, as the airline cannot operate the final leg.
The travel disruption stems from a terror incident on flydubai flight FZ1073 on Wednesday night, which forced the aircraft to divert to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The Zioneer reported that flydubai suspended all flights to and from Israel for six days, and Israeli carriers El Al, Arkia, and Israir began repatriation flights from the UAE.
It remains unclear when rescue flights will be approved or how the earlier Emirates transit agreement will be implemented given the flydubai suspension. Passengers with alternate bookings on Israeli carriers may still be able to transit through Dubai if rescue flights are confirmed.
5 developments
- StrongIsrair receives Dubai airport approvals for rescue flights, preparing additional flight after holiday
- StrongUAE cancels Wednesday rescue flights from Dubai, leaving Israeli passengers in limbo
- DevelopingArkia, Israir say UAE rescue flights approved after El Al cancels Friday repatriations
- StrongFlydubai officially halts all flights to Tel Aviv until further notice
Source and signal
- Open-source intake