Egypt and Israel have reached a compromise on flight paths to and from Gaza, ending a three-month crisis, which threatened to cut off the Palestinian airport, an Egyptian aviation official said Sunday.
The civil aviation authorities (CAA) of the two countries agreed that the flight path to Gaza would now pass 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of Egypt's Mediterranean town of El Arish on the Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt had wanted flights to and from Gaza to use a flight path 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of El Arish while Israel, citing security reasons, wanted to stick to the path being used 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of the town.
Egypt's CAA has alerted the world's airlines that the flight path will begin to be used from Tuesday.
On May 3rd, Israeli security services turned back a flight from Egypt after preventing it from landing.
Israeli security services control air traffic in and out of Gaza under agreements governing Palestinian self-rule – CAIRO (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
