Saudi Arabia opens its airspace to Israeli flights

Saudi Arabia has kept its airspace closed to flights to and from Israel until now. As announced by the Saudi authorities, the kingdom will now allow flights to and from Israel to pass through its airspace.  The reason for this historic opening is the arrival of US President Joe Biden in Saudi Arabia for a visit scheduled for this afternoon as part of his diplomatic tour of the Middle East. 

During this time, Saudi Arabia will allow civilian aircraft to fly over its airspace, provided they meet the requirements of the General Authority of Civil Aviation necessary to fly over the country.

The Saudi kingdom, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, had previously applied this measure of opening its airspace to flights between Israel and the UAE when, in 2020, the UAE signed the Abraham Accords with Israel and with the backing of the United States.

This announcement by Riyadh means extending permission to all civilian flights to and from Israel. This decision was already hinted at in a joint press conference from Jerusalem by Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on the occasion of the US president's official trip.

This decision, in addition to representing a further step in a possible rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, a scenario for which Joe Biden has been working for several months, allows Saudi airlines to shorten their routes to important Asian destinations such as China, India and Thailand.

In a statement, the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority justified its decision by saying that it was in compliance with "its obligations under the 1944 Chicago Convention, which stipulates non-discrimination between civil aircraft used in international air navigation". It added that this action complements "efforts aimed at consolidating the kingdom's position as a hub connecting three continents and strengthening international air connectivity".

According to the US media Axios, Lapid reportedly welcomed Riyadh's decision along with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, one of the key players in forming a common front in the Middle East, led by Israel and the Arab monarchies, to curb the Iranian nuclear threat.

According to Sullivan, this decision would pave "the way for a more integrated, stable and secure Middle East", a scenario he considers "vital" both "for the security and prosperity of the US and the American people" and "for the security and prosperity of Israel".

Joe Biden is set to begin his trip to Saudi Arabia to meet with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi city of Jeddah. This meeting, in addition to being important in diplomatic terms, is itself highly symbolic. During his election speech, Biden was highly critical of Saudi Arabia, going so far as to describe the country as a "pariah" state, so this rapprochement at least heralds a change in his political discourse.

Likewise, the high-profile case of the dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggui further distanced a possible rapprochement between the two countries, with the CIA itself accusing the kingdom of being behind the murder. However, the energy crisis exacerbated by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has managed to put the differences between the two countries to one side in order to finally stage a meeting in which both leaders will sit down with a clear objective: to reach an understanding on the future of energy, on which the European bloc and also the United States depend to a greater or lesser extent.

Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.