Emirates has taken off to Tel Aviv, marking the airline’s first passenger flight to Israel. Emirates flight EK931 departed with 335 passengers, including a VIP delegation and Israeli media onboard at 1220hrs local time.

Emirates executives onboard included: Adel Al Redha, Chief Operating Officer; Dr Abdulla Al Hashimi, Divisional Senior Vice President, Group Security; Adil Al Ghaith, Senior Vice President, Commercial Gulf, Middle East & Central Asia; Khalid Bel Jaflah, Divisional Vice President, Commercial UAE and Oman; David Broz, Vice President Aeropolitical and Industry Affairs; and Jeffrey Van Haeften, Vice President Cargo Global Sales and Commercial.

The new daily service will provide Israeli travellers convenient access to Dubai, with easy connections to popular holiday destinations like Australia, Philippines, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.  Emirates will also offer convenient access into Tel Aviv from diverse points across its network with multiple daily and weekly flights, many of which are home to thriving Jewish communities.

In addition to its latest destination, Tel Aviv, Emirates will also be restarting services to London Stansted, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Christchurch this year.

The aircraft for today’s inaugural flight was Emirates’ popular Boeing 777 Gamechanger, featuring the world’s only fully-enclosed First Class private suites with virtual windows. Emirates will then operate its three-class Boeing 777-300ER on the route, featuring eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie flat seats in Business Class and over 300 spacious seats in Economy Class for the daily service.

Photo caption (from left to right) – David Broz, Vice President Aeropolitical and Industry Affairs; Ross Kiel, Director at Kosher Arabia; Waleed Al Naqbi, Senior Administrator – Coordination & Follow up, UAE Ministry of Economy; Ahmad Al Marri, Dubai Economy and Tourism, Head of Region – GCC & Mena International Operations; Khalid Bel Jaflah, Divisional Vice President, Commercial UAE and Oman; Adil Al Ghaith, Senior Vice President, Commercial Gulf, Middle East & Central Asia; His Excellency Amir Hayek, Israeli Ambassador to the UAE; His Excellency Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy; Adel Al Redha, Chief Operating Officer; His Excellency Mohamed Al Khaja, UAE Ambassador to Israel; Mohammad Mattar, Divisional Senior Vice President, Airport Services; Major Gen Ali Atiq Bin Lahej, General Director, General Department of Airport Security; Abdulhamied Seddiqi, Vice Chairman at Seddiqi Holding; Richard Mintz, Advisor to H.E. Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador in Washington DC; and Sami Aqil Abdulla, Senior Vice President, Airport Services Outstation and Business Support.