Israel and the United Arab Emirates are launching a new era of diplomacy, and to kick that off, EL AL operated its first-ever flight to the UAE today.

EL AL flight LY971 operated today from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi. The 1,311 mile flight took just 3hr17min.

It was operated by a five year old Boeing 737-900ER with the registration code 4X-EHD. This plane was chosen over EL AL’s flagship Boeing 787-9 because the company’s 737s have anti-missile systems, while the 787s don’t.