Cairo airport receives 1st Qatari flight after 3-year hiatus

CAIRO – 18 January 2021: The Cairo International Airport received on Monday the first flight from Qatar after three and a half years of hiatus amid tensions between Qatar and the quartet of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Bahrain.

A source at the airport said almost 100 passengers have been on board of the first plane coming from Doha. The Qatari plane is set to leave tonight with 120 passengers on board.

The Qatar Airways earlier announced the resumption of flights to Egypt starting Monday, January 17, noting that it would operate a flight daily to Cairo.

It added that it would also operate two weekly flights to Alexandria’s Borg Al-Arab airport starting January 25.

The Qatari decision comes after the Egyptian Civil Aviation ministry announced opening airspace for the Qatari aircraft, ending a hiatus that started in June 2017.

Early in January, Egypt, as well as leaders and heads of the GCC member states' delegations signed the final statement of the 41st Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held in Saudi Arabia's Al Ula town, to end the rift with Qatar.

GCC secretary general Nayef al-Hajraf said that Egypt's signing of Al Ula statement confirms the ‘close relations that bind Egypt with the GCC countries.’