El Al says repatriation flights today canceled, due to UAE pulling approval

Israel’s flagship airliner El Al says its repatriation flights to bring home Israelis stranded in Dubai have been canceled for today, after the United Arab Emirates withdrew its authorization for the flights.

Overnight, it was reported that the UAE had withdrawn its approval. Shortly thereafter, the Transportation Ministry said that delays were expected, but the flights would ultimately proceed.

In a notification linked at the top of El Al’s website,  the carrier now says that “due to the cancellation of approval for Israeli companies to land in Dubai, as was reported by the authorities in Israel, we are forced to cancel, at this stage, our rescue flights (LY974-1 LY972) for tomorrow, Friday, October 2.”

Flights next week remain scheduled, according to the notice. However, these are all sold out.

According to Channel 12, the official cancellation comes after “long hours of conversations between senior officials in Israel and officials in the Emirates did not reach final agreements and approvals for Israeli carriers’ planes to land in the country.”