UAE airline Emirates took off for Tel Aviv earlier today, marking the carrier’s first passenger flight to Israel. It will operate a daily service between the two cities.

Emirates flight EK931 departed from Dubai with 335 passengers, including a VIP delegation and Israeli media onboard at 12.20pm.

The aircraft Emirates chose for the inaugural flight was its Boeing 777 Gamechanger, featuring the world’s only fully-enclosed first class private suites with virtual windows.

Emirates said that it will subsequently 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 seats in economy class for the daily service.

The new service to Tel Aviv will also provide 20 tonnes of cargo capacity on each flight, encouraging trade between Israel and the UAE.

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

Emirates begins home check-in service for first class passengers in Dubai and Sharjah

Meanwhile, the renovation of the norther runway of Dubai airport is now complete. Dubai Airports issued an advisory on Thursday saying that approximately 2.4 million passengers are expected to pass through Dubai International airport between June 24 and July 4, with average daily traffic reaching 214,000 passengers. It anticipates July 2 to be the busiest day with daily traffic exceeding 235,000 passengers. It added that similar passenger numbers are forecasted at the airport over the Eid Al Adha weekend of July 8 and 9.

emirates.com