OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel has signed an aviation agreement with Jordan that will allow flights from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to fly through Israeli airspace, it said on Thursday.

The deal had been discussed for years, but the neighbours were only able to finalize it after Israel and the two Gulf Arab states signed a historic agreement last month to normalize ties, Israel's Transportation Ministry said.

Jordanian officials had no immediate comment.

With commercial planes now able to fly through the Israel-Jordan corridor, flight times for some routes between Asia and Europe and North America, including flights from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, will be shorter, the Israeli ministry said.—Reuters