Photo used for illustrative purpose.

The move comes as the UAE and Israel continue to develop greater economic cooperation to drive growth across a range of sectors, in addition to boosting trade flows between both nations. With the new daily flights, Israeli travellers will be able to connect safely, seamlessly and efficiently to Dubai, and through Dubai to Emirates' global route network of over 120 destinations.

The flight timings to/from Tel Aviv will offer travellers convenient access to major leisure destinations beyond Dubai like Thailand, the Indian Ocean Islands and South Africa, among others.

Furthermore, the new flights introduce convenient inbound connections to Tel Aviv from close to 30 Emirates gateways across Australia, the United States, Brazil, Mexico, India and South Africa, all home to some of the largest Jewish communities in the world. Travellers from the United States looking to stop in Dubai before embarking on their onwards journey to Tel Aviv can avail the Dubai Stop Over package, which includes stays at world-class hotels, sightseeing, and other activities.

Daily flights are scheduled to depart Dubai as EK931 at 14:50hrs, arriving at Ben Gurion Airport at 16:25hrs local time. The return flight EK 932 will depart Tel Aviv at 18:25hrs, arriving in Dubai at 23:25hrs local time.

Emirates' customers will also benefit from the airline's codeshare partnership with flydubai. The codeshare provides travellers with short and seamless connectivity from Dubai to points across the combined networks of both carriers, which today consists of 210 destinations in 100 countries.

Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates Airline, said, "Emirates is excited to announce Tel Aviv, one of the region's key gateways, as its newest destination. With the start of services in just a few weeks, Emirates will provide more options for travellers to fly better to and from Tel Aviv via Dubai. We also look forward to welcoming more business and leisure travellers from Israel to Dubai, and onwards to other destinations on Emirates' network.

He added, "We would like to thank the UAE and Israeli authorities for their support, and we await the opportunity to serve Israel and open up more prospects for both countries to continue to build a strong relationship while growing business and expanding tourism in the near future."

In addition to passenger operations, Emirates SkyCargo will offer 20 tonnes of cargo capacity each way between Dubai and Tel Aviv on the Boeing 777-300ER to support exports of pharmaceuticals, high-tech goods, vegetables and other perishables from Tel Aviv. The flights are also expected to transport manufacturing raw materials and components, semiconductors and e-commerce parcels into Israel.

WAM