(Riyadh) Saudi Arabia announced on Friday that it was opening its airspace to “all carriers”, in an apparent gesture of goodwill towards Israel, hours before US President Joe Biden’s visit to the kingdom.
Updated yesterday at 9:20 p.m.
Mr. Biden immediately welcomed this “historic decision”.
The Saudi Civil Aviation Authority “announces its decision to open the kingdom’s airspace to all air carriers” meeting the regulatory overflight conditions, it said in a statement on Twitter.
She clarified that this decision had been taken to “consolidate the kingdom’s position as a global hub”.
Joe Biden will also fly directly from Israel to Riyadh, an unprecedented flight between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a country that does not officially recognize the Jewish state.
The Democratic president “welcomes the historic decision of the leaders of Saudi Arabia to open their airspace to all civil carriers without discrimination”, including “flights to and from Israel”, said in a statement his security adviser national, Jake Sullivan.
Mr. Sullivan sees it as “the result of the perseverance” of Joe Biden’s diplomatic efforts.
Ahead of Mr. Biden’s arrival in Israel on Wednesday, Washington had hinted that more Arab countries could forge ties with Israel, fueling speculation over whether Saudi Arabia would be next.
The kingdom showed no opposition when its regional ally the United Arab Emirates recognized Israel in 2020, followed by Bahrain and Morocco, under the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
Yet analysts predict that Riyadh is unlikely to agree to formal ties with the Jewish state during Mr Biden’s visit or while the 86-year-old King Salman still reigns.
Shortly after the announcement of the Abraham Accords in 2020, Saudi Arabia allowed overflights of its territory by an Israeli plane en route to Abu Dhabi, and announced that flights from Emirates to “all countries” could fly over the kingdom.
Friday’s announcement lifts de facto overflight restrictions for planes traveling to and from Israel.
Israel has lobbied for overflight rights to shorten routes to Asia. The Israeli authorities also want Muslim pilgrims from Israel to be able to travel directly to Saudi Arabia. Currently, they are forced to make expensive stopovers in third countries.
At the beginning of May, Saudi Arabia announced its intention to become a world hub in air transport and to triple its annual traffic, to reach 330 million passengers by the end of the decade.
Riyadh also plans to inject $100 billion into the sector by 2030, launch a new national airline and build a new “mega airport” in the capital.
Analysts, however, question the ability of Saudi companies to compete with other regional heavyweights, such as Emirates or Qatar Airways.