Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’s low-cost airline Flynas has resumed flights for Iranian pilgrims travelling to Haj for the first time since 2015.
“Flynas resumed Iranian pilgrims flights from Imam Khomeini [airport] in Tehran on Saturday,” a Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation told Agence France-Presse (AFP), speaking on condition of anonymity.
Additional flights from Mashhad will also be operated, enabling over 35,000 pilgrims to travel with the airline for the pilgrimage, which begins in June.
Until now, Iranians were only allowed to use Iranian-chartered flights during the Haj season.
Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2016 after protesters set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad, following the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Relations were restored in March 2023 under a Chinese-brokered agreement.
