First Qatar to Saudi flight to take off today
First commercial flight between Qatar and Saudi in three and a half years
Doha: Air travel between Qatar and Saudi Arabia will resume on Monday, according to the countries' airlines, a major landmark as Doha's former rivals normalise ties under a landmark agreement.
The first commercial flight between Qatar and Saudi in three and a half years, a Qatar Airways service to Riyadh, will take off from Doha at 1:45 PM local time, and touch down at 3:10 PM, according to the airline's timetable.
Saudi Airlines will fly from Riyadh to Doha, departing the kingdom at 4:40 PM local time, according to its online schedule, with services from Jeddah expected to start at a later date.
Saudi Arabia and its allies the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in June 2017 slapped a blockade on Qatar that included closing airspace to the country. The quartet agreed to lift the restrictions at a Gulf Cooperation Council summit last week in the Saudi desert city of AlUla, after energetic diplomacy by outgoing US President Donald Trump's administration.
Saudi Airlines will fly from Riyadh to Doha, departing the kingdom at 1340 GMT according to its online schedule, with services from Jeddah expected to start at a later date.