While airlines avoid Israel, FlyDubai and Etihad continue to flee the UAE for both diplomacy and dollars

BEN GURION INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – More than a year of war has taken its toll at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel. Global airlines have canceled flightsThe gates are empty and photos of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip direct the few arriving passengers to the baggage claim.

But one check-in counter is still close to travelers: the one serving flights to the United Arab Emirates, which has provided a bridge for Israelis to the outside world throughout the war.

The flights to the Emirates have not only improved the airlines’ profit figures, but also shed light on the economic situation of the countries. budding ties – which have survived the wars in the Middle East and could be further strengthened as newly-elected US President Donald Trump prepares to return to office.

“It’s a political and economic statement,” says Joshua Teitelbaum, professor of Middle East Studies at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. “They are the main foreign airlines that continue to fly.”

Since the wars began with Hamas’s first attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, many international airlines have halted, restarted and halted flights to Israel’s main gateway to the rest of the world. The concern is real for the carriers, who are concerned about the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 about Ukraine 10 years ago and Iran shoots down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran in 2020.

But FlyDubai, the sister airline of long-haul carrier Emirates, has operated several flights a day, keeping Israel connected to the rest of the world while other low-cost competitors have cut flights. Abu Dhabi’s Etihad has also continued its flights.

While maintaining the flight schedule remains politically important for the UAE following Israel’s diplomatic recognition in 2020, it also provided a new boost to revenues – especially for FlyDubai.

Since the wars began, international airlines such as Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc., Germany’s Lufthansa and other major carriers have halted flights. Some continued, only to stop again Iran’s October 1 ballistic missile attack about Israel and Israel’s retaliatory attack on October 26 about the Islamic Republic. Tehran has threatened to attack Israel again.

That has meant big business for Israel’s national carrier El Al, which had struggled during the coronavirus pandemic and previous years. The airline posted its best-ever half-year results this year, with a profit of $227 million, compared to $58 million in the same period last year. El Al shares are up as much as 200% in the past year, compared with a 29% rise in the broader Tel Aviv 125 stock market index.

However, El Al lacks the routes and connections of major international airlines. Low-cost airlines have also stopped flying to Israel during periods of war, causing the price of El Al tickets to continue to rise. The number of passengers via Ben Gurion halved compared to the same period the year before, El Al said in its second quarter financial results.

However, FlyDubai has continued to fly. The airline has operated more than 1,800 flights to Israel since October last year and canceled a total of only 77 flights, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. In September alone it flew more than 200 flights.

As a line snaked towards the FlyDubai check-in counters at Ben Gurion Airport, Motti Eis, who is going to the UAE, said the flights were “a symbol that the Emirati countries decided to keep the peace.”

FlyDubai declined to answer questions from The Associated Press about the flights.

Etihad, Abu Dhabi’s national carrier, has continued to fly to Tel Aviv, but the number of flights dwarfs that of FlyDubai. FlyDubai had a 3.6% market share at Ben Gurion, compared to El Al’s 43.2% in the second half of 2024. However, at least two of the foreign low-cost airlines with a larger market, Wizz Air and Blue Bird, folded for longer periods of flying. this year.

Etihad said it is closely monitoring the situation in the region but will continue its daily flights to and from Tel Aviv.

“Ben Gurion International Airport remains open and employs best safety and security practices, allowing Etihad and other airlines to provide essential air connections for as long as it is safe to do so,” the airline said in a statement.

But beyond the financial impact, the decision also has roots in the UAE’s decision to recognize Israel in 2020, under agreements brokered by then-President Trump known as the Abraham Accords. While Abu Dhabi has repeatedly expressed concern and outrage over Israel’s behavior during the wars, the Israeli consulate in Dubai and embassy in the country remain open.

And while Dubai remains broadly focused on the country’s business community, Abu Dhabi’s focus has long been on its geopolitical objectives – which since the 2011 Arab Spring have been squarely focused on challenging Islamist movements, and those who support them, in the wider region. The UAE, a hereditary autocracy, has long seen these groups as serious challenges to its power.

The Emirati government, in response to questions from the AP about the flights, sent a story published by its state news agency WAM about its participation in a Nov. 1 conference in Riyadh in support of a two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Israel conflict. -Palestinian crisis. The UAE has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, along with the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

However, likely in light of broader anger in the Arab world over Israel’s devastating militant campaign in Gaza, Dubai International Airport is no longer advertising the location of check-in for Tel Aviv on its electronic billboard. It is located in a far corner of one of the airport’s terminals, next to a Dubai police station. Private security guards also keep watch over the line, while individuals who appeared to be undercover agents monitored the gate, a higher level of security than normally seen at the airport.

But Hebrew and Arabic can be heard in the lines, and those who travel routinely hold their Israeli passports with the blue back in their hands.

“It’s just a symbol of the UAE’s commitment to the relationship,” said Dina Esfandiary, senior Middle East adviser at the International Crisis Group, a think tank. “Whatever happens, wherever the war goes, however much Israel ignores international law, the UAE has decided that this is a step they have taken and that the relationship will remain beneficial to them.”

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Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.