Israeli flight to Dubai cancelled after Saudi Arabia denies access to airspace

Saudi authorities refused to grant an Israeli airline permission to fly one of its planes through the country’s airspace on its way to the United Arab Emirates, pushing the company to cancel its flights between Tel Aviv and Dubai on Tuesday, Hebrew media has reported.

Israir, the second-largest Israeli airliner, saw one of its aircraft grounded for five hours in Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport after Saudi airspace authorities denied it permission to fly over Saudi Arabia.

The five-hour flight to Dubai, set to take off at 9am local time, was eventually cancelled altogether and the passengers were sent home. Some were referred to hotels, according to Israeli Globes news.

However, flights from two other Israeli airlines, El Al and Arkeia, were approved to fly over Saudi Arabia on Tuesday afternoon on their way to and from Dubai.