Emirates Airlines announced the postponement of the launch of its direct flights to Tel Aviv - which were scheduled for the sixth of next December - until further notice, after Israel decided to ban the entry of foreigners in order to combat the new strain of Corona (Omicron).
A spokesman for Dubai-based Emirates Airlines said today, Sunday, in a statement, that "the delay comes as a result of recent changes in the entry protocols issued by the Israeli government."
"The company is committed to launching its services to Tel Aviv as soon as conditions permit," he added.
Emirates Airlines was scheduled to become the third Emirati airline - after flydubai and Etihad Airways - to launch direct flights to Tel Aviv since the UAE announced the normalization of relations with Israel last year, and the subsequent agreements in the political, military and economic fields.
And Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said yesterday, Saturday, that the government decided to ban all foreigners from entering Israel for a period of 14 days until information is obtained about the effectiveness of vaccines in dealing with the Omicron strain of Covid-19, which South Africa reported last week of its discovery, and then was successively monitored in Hong Kong. Kong, Belgium, Israel, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia.