EgyptAir will resume flights to and from Saudi Arabia for certain categories of passengers, the airline said on Tuesday, two days after the Gulf country announced the partial resumption of international flights. Saudi Arabia will allow exceptional categories of citizens and residents to fly into and out of the kingdom starting from Tuesday. Regular air traffic between Saudi and other countries, including Egypt, came to a halt in mid-March in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced on Tuesday that the categories include Saudi citizens and their non-Saudi companions, or their non-Saudi wives and children, as well as non-Saudis who have valid exit and re-entry visas, work permits, residency permits or visit permits. All travellers heading for Saudi Arabia should present a negative COVID-19 PCR test result certificate, dating no earlier than 48 hours before their scheduled flight, according to the GACA. Saudi Arabia is planning to completely lift restrictions on all travel, allowing its citizens to exit and re-enter by land, sea and air, after January 1, 2021. The country has registered a total of 326,930 coronavirus cases, including 4,338 deaths, since the first case was discovered there in early March. The country is home to the largest group of Egyptian expatriates worldwide: around three million Egyptian reside there, according to the country's official statistics agency. Egypt began resuming regular international flights at all its airports in July, after a four-month hiatus due to the pandemic.
