Tel Aviv, Nov 10 (IANS): Israel's Israir has announced that it will operate direct passenger flights to Bahrain, becoming the first airline to announce a regular direct route between the two countries after they agreed to fully normalise relations in September.

In a statement on Monday, the airline said that flights from the Ben Gurion International Airpor outside Tel Aviv, to the Bahrain International Airport near the capital Manama will take about two and a half hours, reports Xinhua news agency.

In the first phase, the new route will include two weekly flights starting from January 31, 2021.

The direct flights became possible after Saudi Arabia agreed in early September to allow Israeli planes to fly over its territory.

In September, Israir announced it will operate direct passenger flights to the United Arab Emirates, which also signed a normalization agreement with Israel.

Also last month, Arkia, Israel's second-largest airline, had announced direct flight services to Dubai, which will begin from January 3, 2021.