Archive · 2 Oct 2026
El Al Cancels Dubai Rescue Flights After UAE Withdraws Approval
El Al planned two special flights to bring Israelis home from Dubai.
The flights were cancelled because the United Arab Emirates had not approved them.
El Al said it would operate them when the necessary permission was received.
Regular El Al flights are still expected to fly from Dubai to Tel Aviv starting Sunday.
Many seats on those flights are already taken.
The special tickets cost $249 each.
The flights were planned after flydubai stopped flying to Tel Aviv.
Israeli authorities said a co-pilot attacked the pilot and tried to crash a plane, while passengers said they helped stop him and the plane landed in Saudi Arabia.
El Al cancelled two planned Friday repatriation flights from Dubai after Emirati authorities did not grant landing permission.
The flights were intended to bring Israelis home after flydubai suspended service to Tel Aviv following an onboard attack.
El Al said it would operate the special flights once approval and security coordination were completed.
Regular El Al flights from Dubai to Tel Aviv remain scheduled from Sunday, with seats filled into the following week.
Israeli authorities said a flydubai co-pilot tried to crash the aircraft; passengers said they overpowered him before the plane diverted to Saudi Arabia.
- Who
- El Al, Israeli passengers, and authorities in Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
- What
- Two planned El Al repatriation flights from Dubai were cancelled after landing approval was not granted.
- When
- The special flights were scheduled for Friday; regular El Al flights are scheduled to resume from Sunday.
- Where
- The planned flights concerned Dubai and Tel Aviv; the attacked aircraft diverted to Saudi Arabia.
- Why
- The flights were cancelled because Emirati authorities had not completed or granted the required approval and security coordination after an onboard attack led flydubai to suspend service to Tel Aviv.
- Cancelled flights
- Two El Al special flights scheduled for Friday
- Ticket price
- $249 for each one-way repatriation flight
- Approval status
- The United Arab Emirates had not granted landing permission
- Regular service
- El Al flights from Dubai to Tel Aviv remain scheduled from Sunday
- Flight disruption
- flydubai suspended service to Tel Aviv after an in-flight attack
- Reported diversion
- The aircraft was diverted to Saudi Arabia
- Travel context
- The flights were planned during the busy Sukkot travel season