Saudi Arabia opens airspace to ‘all airlines’ in gesture to Israel

Saudi Arabia announced on Friday that it would lift restrictions on “all airlines” using its airspace, an apparent gesture of openness to Israel ahead of US President Joe Biden’s arrival.

It was Riyadh’s latest conciliatory move towards the Jewish state, which it does not recognize despite intensive Israeli efforts to forge ties with Arab countries.

The Saudi Civil Aviation Authority “announces the decision to open the Kingdom’s airspace to all air carriers that meet the authority’s overfly requirements,” the statement said on Twitter.

The decision was made “to complement the Kingdom’s efforts aimed at solidifying the Kingdom’s position as a global hub connecting three continents.”

Ahead of Biden’s arrival in Israel on Wednesday, Washington had hinted that more Arab nations could take steps to pursue ties with Israel, spurring speculation as to whether Riyadh would reverse its long-standing position of not establishing official bilateral ties until the conflict with the Palestinians is resolved .

The kingdom showed no opposition when its regional ally, the United Arab Emirates, established diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020, followed by Bahrain and Morocco under the US-brokered Abraham Accords.

But analysts have stressed that any immediate gains are likely to be incremental and that Riyadh is unlikely to agree to any formal commitments — not during Biden’s visit or while King Salman, 86, is still in power.

Biden will travel to the Saudi city of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast on Friday afternoon, despite an earlier vow to treat the kingdom as a “pariah” over the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

He is to travel directly from the Jewish state to Saudi Arabia – and thus become the first US President to fly from there to an Arab nation that does not recognize him.

In 2017, his predecessor Donald Trump did the opposite.

Shortly after announcing the Abraham Accords in 2020, Saudi Arabia allowed an Israeli plane to fly over en route to Abu Dhabi and announced UAE flights to “all countries” could overfly the kingdom.

Friday’s announcement effectively lifts overflight restrictions on planes traveling to and from Israel.

Israel has been pushing for overflight rights to shorten connections to destinations in Asia.

The Israeli authorities also want Muslim pilgrims from Israel to be able to travel directly to Saudi Arabia.

They currently have to make costly stopovers in third countries.

Under the de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Biden is expected to meet on Friday, there has been “a major shift in Saudi thinking” regarding Israel, said Dan Shapiro, Washington’s former ambassador to Israel.

Prince Mohammed “and to some extent even the king himself have indicated that they are positive about normalization with Israel,” said Shapiro, now with the Atlantic Council.

“They supported the Abraham Accords. Your own normalization may take time and be phased in, but it seems almost inevitable that it will happen.”