Regev presses for Flydubai flight suspension

Israel’s Transport Minister Miri Regev has called for all Flydubai flights to Israel to be suspended after a Dubai-Tel Aviv service made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia following a serious cockpit incident on Wednesday.

Regev asked Israel’s Shin Bet security service to halt the Dubai-based carrier’s operations pending an investigation into the episode and compliance with security arrangements governing its services to Israel. Her intervention followed the diversion of Flydubai flight FZ1073 to Tabuk, north-western Saudi Arabia, after the aircraft transmitted emergency signals while flying towards Tel Aviv.

Flydubai said the aircraft landed safely in Tabuk after an “incident” during the journey and that all passengers were accounted for and being cared for. The airline said it was working with the relevant authorities. It did not publicly confirm claims about the cause of the cockpit disturbance or identify the crew members involved.

Israeli officials are examining whether the episode constituted a security or terror-related incident. Accounts emerging from Israel said there had been a violent confrontation between the pilots, but important details remained under investigation and had not been independently established by aviation authorities in the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.

Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft initially broadcast the transponder code 7700, the international signal for a general emergency, before transmitting 7500, which indicates unlawful interference. The plane also lost altitude rapidly before diverting to Tabuk. Israeli fighter aircraft were scrambled as authorities responded to the alert, but the Flydubai jet landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

The episode prompted Regev to seek an immediate review of Flydubai’s operating arrangements. Israeli accounts said her demand was linked partly to claims that one of the pilots involved was an Omani national. A source cited in Israel said Flydubai’s operating agreement required pilots serving the Israel route to come from countries maintaining diplomatic relations with Israel. Oman does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

That claim, including the nationality of the crew member and whether any contractual requirement was breached, had not been publicly confirmed by Flydubai. Regev nevertheless asked the Shin Bet to investigate the matter before the carrier’s flights were allowed to continue under existing arrangements.

The demand represented a potentially significant disruption to one of the most durable air links between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Flydubai has maintained regular Dubai-Tel Aviv services through periods when many international airlines curtailed operations because of regional security risks.

A second Flydubai aircraft bound for Tel Aviv turned back towards Dubai after Wednesday’s incident, according to flight-tracking information. It was not immediately clear whether that movement resulted from an Israeli instruction, an airline operational decision or another factor.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the authorities were following the situation. Israeli security officials initially treated the emergency signals as a possible hijacking and later said the circumstances required investigation as a potential security incident. Assertions that a crew member deliberately intended to crash the aircraft remained allegations rather than established findings.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir publicly alleged that a person involved had intended to bring down the aircraft and kill Israelis on board. His assertion had not been substantiated by a completed investigation, and Flydubai’s statement did not endorse that account.

Passenger accounts carried by several outlets described an altercation in the cockpit and intervention by people aboard the aircraft. Some accounts alleged that a pilot had been attacked with a knife and that off-duty pilots helped control the aircraft. Authorities had not released a full, verified sequence of events by Wednesday evening.

The number of people aboard was also described differently across early accounts, with figures around 170 to 180 passengers appearing in coverage. Flydubai’s public response focused on the safe landing, the welfare of those aboard and its cooperation with authorities rather than providing a detailed passenger manifest.