Air India gets Saudi okay to overfly country on Israel flights, Netanyahu says

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Saudi Arabia has given Air India approval to fly through its airspace on flights between Israel and India. The agreement would shorten the flight path by some 2 hours and mark a significant achievement as Jerusalem attempts to upgrade its relationship with Riyadh. Netanyahu noted that the flight to and from Mumbai would take the same amount of time as flights between London and Tel Aviv, some 5 and a half hours. Air India also flies from Tel Aviv to Bangkok. There was no immediate confirmation of the agreement from Saudi Arabia or Air India. Saudi officials swiftly denied okaying an agreement in February after Indian authorities said they had applied for permission to overfly the country on trips to and from Israel. <br/>