Arkia Cancels Flights from Dubai Amidst Investigation Fallout

Arkia Airlines announced on Wednesday the cancellation of all repatriation flights from Dubai to Israel, deepening the crisis for Israelis stranded in the UAE following an attempted terror attack on a Flydubai flight. The cancellations include flights scheduled for Thursday, the final day designated for rescue operations. Arkia stated that their flight permits, valid until Tuesday evening, were revoked by authorities, and despite efforts to reinstate them, these attempts were unsuccessful.

The airline will provide full refunds to affected passengers and offer a 10% discount on future flights from other destinations to Israel for those who can arrange independent travel to such points. The incident previously led Flydubai to suspend its flights to and from Israel, leaving hundreds of Israelis stranded. Emirates, Flydubai's sister airline, also halted its codeshare agreement with Flydubai on routes to Israel and prohibited passengers with final destinations in Tel Aviv from boarding Emirates flights to Dubai for onward travel.

Saudi Arabia is continuing its investigation into the security incident, in parallel with the criminal inquiry by the UAE, which includes the participation of the Shin Bet. Ofer Vaknin, Director of the Aviation Accident Investigation Bureau at the Ministry of Transport, told Reuters that Israel offered to assist in any safety investigation led by Saudi Arabia but has not yet been invited to participate. New Zealand is also reportedly investigating the incident, as the pilot, Al-Mami, spent six months there for flight training between November 2018 and May 2019. British media reported that Al-Mami, who intended to crash the plane in Tel Aviv, trained at the L3 Airline Academy in the UK, with potential links to a flight school in Hamilton, New Zealand. New Zealand police confirmed Al-Mami was in the country for 175 days to complete part of his flight training.