New Delhi:  Air India on Monday announced that it will soon introduce a direct flight between New Delhi and Tel Aviv in Israel from March 22.

Starting Thursday, the 256-seat Boeing 787 Dreamliner will operate thrice a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, and is expected to cover the distance in seven hours.

On March 22, the inaugural flight AI139 will take off from Delhi at 6:00 p.m. and arrive at Tel Aviv at 9:45 p.m. The return flight will depart from Tel Aviv at 11:15 p.m. and reach the national capital at 10:00 a.m. the next day. However, from April 1, AI139 will depart from Delhi at 4:50 p.m. and reach Tel Aviv at 9:45 p.m., while the return flight will leave Tel Aviv at 11:15 p.m. to reach Delhi at 9:00 a.m. the next day (Indian Standard Time).

Apart from boosting tourism prospects in India and Israel, the launch of this flight is targeted at travelers from countries in Southeast Asia and Australia.

Air India stated that the duration of the New Delhi-Tel Aviv flight would be nearly two hours shorter than that of Israel's national carrier, El Al, which operates direct flights between Tel Aviv and Mumbai.