First the first time in history, Saudi Arabia has granted permission for a commercial airline to use its airspace for flights heading to Israel, Haaretz reported.

In January, Air India signed a contract with Israeli airlines El Al to launch direct flights between Delhi and Tel Aviv, the deal was awaiting Saudi to accept the passage of the aircrafts owned by the two airlines through its skies.

The approval means Air India can use the new route from March and reduce travel times by 2.5 hours.

Saudi has not allowed flights to Israel to travel through its airspace with officials, including US presidents, having to make stopovers in Amman before continuing their journey on to Tel Aviv.

Last year however, US President Donald Trump completed the first trip from the Kingdom directly to Tel Aviv.

The move was seen as confirmation of increased ties between the Gulf and the occupation state.

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