SHAFAQNA- The first direct flights since 2017 between Qatar and Egypt and the United Arab Emirates took to the skies. On Monday, the first commercial flight from Qatar to Egypt since the blockade, an Egyptair service to Cairo, took off from Doha airport. It was followed shortly by the arrival of an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah in the UAE.
As many as 300,000 Egyptians call Qatar home, according to official statistics, and many were unable to travel home during the crisis. A Qatar Airways plane was also due to make a trip to Cairo later on Monday. Flights between Doha and Saudi Arabia, which has also opened its land border to Qatar, resumed on January 11, AlJazeera reported.