First Israeli airline to fly to Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh lifts off
'I welcome the opening of the new route and the operation of direct flights to Sharm El Sheikh'
The first commercial flight of an Israeli airline to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh took off from Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday morning.
Sun D'Or International Airlines, a subsidiary of El Al, departed for the southern Sinai destination at approximately 10:15 am on flight number 5193.
"I welcome the opening of the new route and the operation of direct flights to Sharm El Sheikh. This is real news," Gal Gershon, CEO of Sun D'Or, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony before the inaugural flight.
"This is one of the most sought-after holiday destinations for this coming summer," Gershon added, promising more holiday destinations to be marketed in the coming months.
Gershon was joined at the ceremony by incoming El Al CEO Dina Ben Tal Ganancia.
Israel and Egypt agreed to launch direct flights to Sharm el Sheikh last month after security arrangements were finalized.
The new route was brought up in September during a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi that took place in Sharm El Sheikh.
Sun D'Or will offer three flights a week on its Boeing 737s — Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays with fares starting at $269.