The first commercial flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates touched down in Abu Dhabi on Monday, August 31, carrying a delegation of U.S. and Israeli officials.

El Al Flight 971 — numbered to represent the UAE’s international dialing code — made the trip in just three hours, having been granted permission to traverse Saudi Arabia’s airspace, usually off-limits to Israeli air traffic. Leading the delegation were Jared Kushner, advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, and head of the Israeli National Security Council Meir Ben-Shabbat.

In a joint statement with O’Brien and Kushner, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was pleased by the speed with which Israeli-UAE normalization was progressing. The Emirates’ abolishing the official boycott against Israel “opens the door for what I can only call unbridled trade, tourism, investments, and exchanges between the Middle East’s two most advanced economies,” Netanyahu said.

Speaking on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion International Airport just before takeoff, Kushner expressed his hope that the flight would inspire Muslims and Arabs worldwide.