Oman refuses to open skies to Israeli flights - report

Oman is refusing to allow Israeli flights through its airspace, conceding to intense Iranian pressure, according to a report Thursday in Israel Hayom.

Securing passage over the skies of the Persian Gulf Arab country was necessary to take advantage of Saudi Arabia's announcement last month that it would open its airspace to all airlines, which includes Israeli flights.

The hope was that Oman opening its airspace would be a formality after the Saudi move, significantly reducing travel time to destinations in the far east such as India, Thailand and China. Flights from Tel Aviv to Asia had to previously avoid the Arabian Peninsula, adding between two to three hours of travel time.

Last week, the CEO of El Al said that permission for El Al Israel Airlines to fly over Oman was expected in "a matter of days."

Dina Ben-Tal, speaking to reporters, said the airline had already received approval to fly over Saudi Arabia. However, the company must also pass over Oman to avoid Iran and save time for journeys to Asian countries.

"Recently, Iran has greatly increased its pressure and threats on the Gulf countries so that they will not carry out normalization measures vis-à-vis Israel," Dr. Yoel Gozhansky, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, told Israel Hayom.