Call it pressure from Iran or its synonym, Oman has reportedly refused to open its airspace to Israeli commercial flights , despite other Gulf states having opened theirs amid warming relations with Tel Aviv.
The Israeli airline Arkia has been forced to cancel its flights to India and other Asian countries and give customers refunds due to the continued refusal by Oman to allow the Israeli commercial aircraft fly over its territory.
According to a report by the newspaper Israel Hayom on Thursday, Oman decided to keep its airspace closed to Israeli flights, a week after the chief executive of Israel's carrier El Al – Dina Ben-Tal – said that Tel Aviv would receive official permission from Muscat to use its airspace.
That move was expected to be made after Saudi Arabia allowed the Israeli national carrier to fly over its airspace, in order to enable flights to pass directly over the Gulf region en route to destinations such as India and Thailand. "It's not just Saudi Arabia. We need the full route to be approved," Ben-Tal said at the time.
Israeli planes heading to Asian destinations currently have to fly a circuitous route around the Gulf region and over the Red Sea.
Pending any official release on the matter , Muscat's stand on airspace closure to Israeli flights would be the main obstacle preventing Tel Aviv's plans to utilise its planned flight corridor over the Gulf to save time and fuel.
Israel had lobbied for years for Saudi Arabia to grant its planes overflight rights. It finally secured them in August following negotiations mediated by the US.
However, the Omani rejection to grant similar overflight rights as Saudi Arabia was not only unexpected , but also meant that Israeli airlines could not take advantage of the Saudi gesture, that happened in August.
It is being said , Oman's apparent decision came on the same day that the Omani and Iranian foreign ministers did a telephonic discussion on the bilateral relations and regional issues.
Arkia CEO Oz Berlowitz as saying,
“Unfortunately, in light of the lack of approval to fly over Oman and take the short route to the east, we had to postpone the opening of flights to India at this stage.”
Berlowitz called on Israeli transport minister Merav Michaeli to
“exert all her efforts on the opening of the air passage over Oman, which will bring about a dramatic change in Israeli aviation to the east”.
Since 2020, Gulf states the UAE and Bahrain have normalised relations with Israel and there is strong speculation that Saudi Arabia and Oman may also follow suit.
Unlike other Gulf countries , Oman has close ties with Iran and it is believed that Iranian pressure was behind its decision not to open its airspace to Israeli airlines.
Despite the sultanate's warming attitude to Israel and its efforts to build relations and aim to maintain its status as a neutral and mediatory player in the region rather than an adversarial one.
