Daily Qatar-Egypts flight to resume after three-year hiatus

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Egypt and Qatar have resumed flights after three-years of restrictions.

Qatar Airways and EgyptAir have both announced the resumption of flights between the two countries starting Monday.

In a tweet, Qatar’s national carrier said it would will be adding daily flights to Cairo and flights to Alexandria twice a week. 

Meanwhile, its Egyptian counterpart said it would will run one daily flight from Cairo to Doha as well as four flights a week from Alexandria to Doha, with potential for more based on demand. 

Egypt reopened its airspace to Qatari flights on Tuesday and will allow the resumption of air traffic between the two countries as part of the Al-Ula agreement signed by Gulf leaders.

The lifting of restrictions has allowed business, trade and travel to swiftly resume between the two countries.

Doha’s state owned real estate development company Qatari Diar said it would continue work on its huge “CityGate” project in New Cairo after a four-year pause.

Earlier this month, Qatar’s Finance Minister Ali Al Emadi attended the opening ceremony of the St. Regis Hotel in the Egyptian capital alongside US Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin. The visit to Egypt marked the first by a Qatari official since the 2017 rift erupted. 

“By investing through Qatari Diar in this distinguished project, the State of Qatar practically affirms its commitment to contribute to supporting the tourism sector for its vital role in economic development and creating job opportunities,” said Al Emadi.

The latest developments in the region comes just over a week after leaders and diplomats from the Gulf Cooperation Council met in Saudi Arabia to sign the much-anticipated Al-Ula Declaration that put an end to the Gulf crisis.

The declaration, signed by the blockading quartet and Qatar, closed a gloomy chapter in GCC relations that posed a serious threat to the unity of the bloc as well as security in the region.

The restoration of relations includes all former blockading countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt.


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