Bahrain National Airline To Begin Direct Flights To And From Israel In June

Bahrain’s national airline Gulf Air announced Sunday that it will begin offering direct flights between Manama and Tel Aviv on June 3.

Economy class tickets are expected to cost around $299 per seat, the airline said. Israeli airlines are also expected to establish routes to Bahrain soon.

The flights are the latest in a series of moves linking Israel closer to the Gulf since the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain established full diplomatic relations with the Jewish state under the Abraham Accords, a pact brokered under former US president Donald Trump.

Morocco and Sudan have normalized ties as well.

The UAE’s Flydubai and Etihad have since started flying to Tel Aviv, while Israel’s El Al and Arkia are also flying the route.

The agreements broke with the longstanding Arab notion that there should be no normalization with Israel until it reaches a comprehensive peace deal with the Palestinians.