(MENAFN) Israeli cabinet minister Yuval Steinitz expressed hope on Friday that Saudi Arabia would allow Air India to fly to and from Tel Aviv over the kingdom, which would be the first time Riyadh would allow commercial flights bound for Israel to use the country's airspace, Reuters reported.
"There is apparently progress on the matter," Steinitz, the energy minister, told Radio 102 FM.
The current airspace ban has been imposed for 70 years but if the kingdom allow this to happen, it will be the first public sign of warming relations between the two countries.
Air India declared the planned thrice-weekly flights on Wednesday, but Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation denied granting any such approval.
"I hoped that this matter matter will be worked out," Israel's cabinet minister Steinitiz said, when asked about the Saudi denial.
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