Israel's Arkia Airways said on Wednesday it signed a partnership deal with Qatar Airways, but the Gulf carrier denied any such agreement.

Arkia said the agreement would allow Israelis to fly from Tel Aviv to Amman, Jordan on Arkia and then connect on Qatar Airways via Doha to about 20 destinations in Asia and Africa.

But a senior Qatar Airways official said in Doha: "We deny this... we have not been in any discussions with this company and no agreement has been signed."

The deal would have been the first between Israel and a Gulf Arab carrier.

"I am not aware of any signing between Qatar Airways' headquarters and Israel," a senior government official said but added that a Jordanian company serving as Qatar Airways' agent may have signed such a deal.

US ally Qatar has no diplomatic relations with Israel but it has angered other Arab states by maintaining low-level ties with the Jewish state.

Arkia had said in a statement that under the deal, Israelis would not need a visa to be in the transit area in Qatar's airport.

Arkia noted it was adjusting its timetable to Amman to allow for easier connections. Beginning in December, Arkia will operate two flights a week to Amman.

Arkia is a small carrier that operates domestic flights and routes to Amman and Europe, while Qatar is a major airline. It will be one of the first carriers to receive the new Airbus A380 super-jumbo jet.