Egypt reopened, on Tuesday, its airspace to Qatari flights after more than three-year ban due to the Gulf crisis, local media reported.
Ashraf Noweir, Head of the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA), said that Egypt agreed to a Qatari request to reopen its airspace to flights from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) state. Egypt officially reopened its airspace to the first Qatari aircraft to cross Egyptian airspace on Tuesday morning.
Noweir said that, due to the decision to lift the ban, Qatari airlines are allowed to resume flights with Egypt.
He added that the national carriers of both countries are also allowed to operate flights between the two countries, and to exchange flight schedules for approval, the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, the Al Shorouk newspaper cited sources at Egypt’s Ministry of Civil Aviation saying that a flight schedule will be determined this week that will see flights resume between Egypt and Qatar.
The decision came a week after Egypt signed the AlUla agreement as a reconciliation with Qatar, in order to end the three-year rift between the two countries. The signing occurred during the 41st GCC summit, which took place in the Saudi city of Al-Ula.
The agreement puts an end to the rift between Qatar on one side, and Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE on the other side.
Cairo stressed that it is imperative to build on this step, to strengthen Arab actions and support relations between the region’s countries. It added that this will be based on goodwill and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
