Covid News: Qatar and Saudi Arabia to resume direct flights

Riyadh: Qatar Airways and Saudi Airlines will resume flights between Doha and Riyadh from Monday in a reopening of airspace as part of a political rapprochement in a three-year-old dispute.

Qatar Airways said via Twitter on Saturday it will resume flights to Riyadh on Monday, Jeddah from Jan. 14, and Dammam from Jan. 16.

It said the flights would be with wide-body planes including the Boeing 777-300, Boeing 787-8 and Airbus A350.

“We also look forward to resuming a strong relationship with our trade and cargo partners in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as the major airports in the country,” the airline added on Twitter.

Saudi Airlines (Saudia) also tweeted that it too would resume flights from Riyadh and Jeddah to Doha from Monday.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a diplomatic, trade and travel embargo on Qatar in mid-2017 accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar denied that and said the embargo was meant to undermine its sovereignty.

Saudi Arabia and its three Arab allies agreed to restore full ties with Doha at a summit in the kingdom on Tuesday.