Airlines
Qatar Airways Resumes Operations through Saudi Airspace
For the first time since the establishment of a GCC-led blockade of Qatar in 2017, Qatar Airways can fly direct to South Africa over Saudi Arabia.
(Photo: David McIntosh)
(Photo: David McIntosh)

Qatar Airways on Thursday began to re-route flights through Saudi airspace as authorized under the terms of an agreement reached among members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Egypt that eased the airspace restrictions they imposed on Qatar in 2017. The first flight left Doha for Johannesburg at 8:45 pm local time, the airline said in a tweet issued just ahead of a statement from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) welcoming the deal reached Tuesday.