Israel Orders Cargo Planes to Dubai for Passenger Luggage

Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered cargo planes to be dispatched to Dubai to retrieve the personal belongings of Israeli passengers stranded there. The first cargo flight is expected to depart within the hour, according to his office. The situation arose after an attempted hijacking of Flydubai flight 1073, which led to passengers being prohibited from taking their luggage on subsequent repatriation flights from Dubai. Following the incident on Wednesday, Flydubai suspended its Dubai-Tel Aviv route.

Israeli airlines El Al, Arkia, and Israir are operating the repatriation flights. Arkia and Israir conducted the first two flights on Friday night. El Al had previously canceled its scheduled evacuation flights from Dubai for the day, but further flights are planned for Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday of the following week. El Al had initially planned to begin evacuations on October 2nd, pending security clearance, allowing only one carry-on bag per passenger, with remaining luggage to be sent separately.

Arkia has also begun selling tickets for special flights from Dubai, with prices starting at $279. The airline has cautioned that schedules may change based on authorities' demands and that luggage will be transported separately. Defense Minister Katz commented on the Flydubai incident, emphasizing that warnings issued by himself and the Prime Minister, based on intelligence, should be taken seriously by adversaries and former officials lacking current intelligence.