Saudi Arabia has decided to open its airspace to all airlines that meet the requirements of the kingdom's General Directorate of Civil Aviation. The directorate said in a statement posted on Twitter on Friday.
"In order to strengthen the kingdom's position as a global hub connecting three continents and to improve international air traffic, the kingdom's General Directorate of Civil Aviation announces the decision to open its airspace to all air carriers that meet the agency's flight requirements," the statement said.
The Civil Aviation Authority did not say directly that it was opening airspace to Israel. Meanwhile, a US official earlier told Reuters that Saudi Arabia would open the airspace to all Israeli airlines and allow direct charter flights from Israel for Muslims participating in the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
Saudi Arabia previously allowed Israeli airlines to fly over its territory in a special air corridor for flights to and from the UAE and Bahrain. At the same time, Israel had no access to flights to and from Asia, including China and India.
In addition, Riyadh had previously only accepted Muslim pilgrims arriving from Israel to Mecca with transit through a third country.
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Based on materials from TASS