Just two years since the signing of the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, tourism is booming and Israelis are flocking to the Gulf state.
Half a million Israelis are estimated to have been to the UAE since ties were formed in 2020.
Abu Dhabi’s national carrier, Etihad, has seen a huge demand for the route, even in the face of the Covid pandemic.
Ran Pollak, Etihad’s sales manager for Israel, said the Abraham Accords had developed a whole new market for the industry on both sides.
“The Accords opened up new opportunities for travel between the UAE and Israel and it has become an important route for Etihad,” he said. “Both the UAE and Israel were leaders in response to the pandemic, with both countries quickly vaccinating a high percentage of their populations. Following the normalisation of relations, this made travel between the two countries both easy and attractive.”
The UAE has also become a valuable new hub, with travellers from Tel Aviv transiting on to destinations including Australia, Thailand and the Maldives, Mr Pollak explained.
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Warm welcome: Kiddush in Dubai
While the majority of travel appears to be leisure, business is booming too, with deals between the two countries worth $192 million (£164 million) since 2020, and the announcement of a free trade deal just weeks ago.
“More and more businesses are involved in the UAE market, which is supporting growth in travel between the two countries,” said Mr Pollak.
“The UAE has become one of the top destinations from Israel, with more airlines adding flights on this route. At Etihad, we see a very positive trend for this market and expect this to continue.”
The airline now flies to Tel Aviv seven times per week, having increased from a twice-weekly flight rota when it began operating the route in April 2021. “We have connected more than 56,000 passengers between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi and this August saw record-breaking passenger numbers as more than 10,000 people connected between the two cities,” Mr Pollak added.
Flydubai was Dubai’s first carrier to offer direct flights to Tel Aviv, which is already in the airline’s top 10 destinations with the route in high demand all year round since it launched in November 2020.
It now has a four-times daily service, up from its initial two a day.
Dubai’s national carrier Emirates is also stepping up its service to Tel Aviv just weeks after its launch in June and has already announced a second daily flight, starting next month.
Lior Cohen recently travelled via Dubai to Thailand and said: “The service, the reliability and the timings have just meant that not only do we save money as a family, but the whole experience is nicer. For consumers, having all these new options is great.”
He and his family stopped for two nights in Dubai on the way to Bangkok. “We’ve always been intrigued to see more of this part of the world but as Israelis, it’s never been an option, he said.”
One of the dozens of Israelis attending Chabad’s Shabbat activities, he said it was “mind-blowing” to think he was at a minyan in Dubai when just two years ago such a thing would have sounded like a fantasy.
Ross Kriel, the founder of Kosher Arabia, catering for Emirates, says the accords have transformed the aviation sector in the UAE and demand for kosher food on Emirates has increased by 500 per cent on the back of it.
“Jews around the world are fascinated with a Muslim and Arab country that is a centre of tolerance and innovation and hosts an emerging and flourishing Jewish community,” he said.
“This means that Jews are choosing Dubai as a destination for festivals.
“More than 3,000 Jews participated in various Passover programmes throughout the city in 2022 and they are travelling to Dubai for business and tourism.”
In addition to Kosher Arabia, which delivers kosher meals to hotels and provides Shabbat catering, there are five kosher restaurants in Dubai, and daily and Shabbat prayer services.
“It is extraordinary that the local Jewish community has been able to rapidly build organisations that can cater for a Jewish demand that has grown exponentially,” said Mr Kriel.
