Arkia's first repatriation flight to Dubai landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Saturday after UAE authorities revoked landing permission for the El Al flight.
A cargo plane will collect the passengers’ luggage at the UAE’s request. Additional Arkia and Israir flights are expected to depart on Saturday, with the Saturday night service operating on El Al's behalf.
Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that the first cargo flight would depart Saturday morning to retrieve passengers' luggage left behind in Dubai, following "coordination with security agencies and the relevant government ministries, and in accordance with the operational requirements needed to complete the mission."
A source close to the United Arab Emirates criticized the use of the term "rescue flight" by Israeli officials in a conversation with The Jerusalem Post.
“In Israel, they are talking about ‘rescue flights’ from the Emirates. ‘Rescue flights’ is a term used for a country where it is dangerous to be. That is simply not the case. Everything Israel asked for, the UAE said ‘yes.’ Flydubai agreed to fly to Israel under different protocols, similar to those used by Etihad, but the Israelis said ‘no.’”
First repatriation flight canceled after landing permission revoked
El Al said that as soon as official permission is granted for the repatriation flights to resume, it will implement the planned flights to bring stranded Israelis home.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Ministry said that "following 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 remain in contact with the airlines through which their tickets were booked and follow their instructions and updates,” the ministry added.
According to estimates, more than 10,000 Israelis are stranded in Dubai and at other destinations from which they had been expected to return to Israel via the United Arab Emirates.
Later on Friday, Israir announced that it had received the final approvals from the Emirati authorities and that flights would be departing from Israel to Dubai during the day.
Flydubai altercation leads to emergency landing in Saudi Arabia
On Wednesday, a flydubai aircraft that departed Dubai for Tel Aviv was diverted and landed in Saudi Arabia following an altercation between the captain and the copilot.
During the incident, one of them was stabbed, prompting the activation of the distress signal.
The aircraft initially disappeared from flight tracking systems, raising concerns that it had been hijacked. However, after several tense moments, the circumstances surrounding the incident became clearer, and the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.