Flydubai suspends Tel Aviv flights after cockpit incident on Dubai route

Flydubai has suspended flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv pending investigations into an incident aboard one of its aircraft. On the flight, FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on 30 September, the first officer seriously injured the captain and apparently tried to bring the Boeing 737 Max down.

The airline halted its Israel services while investigations continue. Israelis in Dubai who had planned to fly home with the carrier were to be collected by Israeli airlines from Friday, 2 October. Shin Bet agents travelled to Dubai to arrange security for those arrangements, which the report describes as difficult negotiations.

The suspension affects traffic between Israel and the United Arab Emirates more broadly. The two countries established diplomatic relations in September 2020 and opened embassies in Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi in 2021, with air links playing a central part. The Emirati foreign ministry has said direct flights make business travel, tourism, trade and exchanges between the populations easier.

The ministry puts direct flights at a record 136 per week, with around 120 offered weekly during regular operating periods. Passenger numbers between the two countries reached about 1.53 million in 2025, up from roughly 892,000 in 2024, according to the ministry.

The report says the relationship is now being tested after the events on the Dubai–Tel Aviv sector.