El Al Israel Airlines was forced to cancel its rescue flights to Dubai, the company announced Friday morning, after authorities revoked permission for Israeli airlines to land there.
El Al said that as soon as official permission was granted for the resumption of rescue flights, it would implement planned flights to bring stranded Israelis home.
Separately, the Ministry of Transportation stated that “after 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 stay in touch with the airlines through which their tickets were booked and follow their instructions and updates,” the ministry added.
More than 10,000 Israelis are estimated to be stranded in Dubai and other destinations from where they were supposed to return to Israel via the United Arab Emirates.
Later on Friday, Israir announced that it had received final approvals from Emirati authorities and that flights would depart from Israel to Dubai later that day. No similar announcement has been made by El Al.
During the incident, one of them was stabbed, causing the distress signal to activate.
The plane initially disappeared from flight tracking systems, sparking fears it had been hijacked. However, after several tense moments, the circumstances of the incident became clearer and the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Gn world
