GACA spokesman Khaled Al-Khaibari said permission for the airline to operate between the two countries marks GACA’s interest in adhering to the open air policy between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, something that helps low income people to travel cheaply by air. “This will increase the number of passengers between the two countries and will boost tourism … and will create more job opportunities,” he added.

GACA, said Al-Khaibari, previously gave AlMasria permission to operate two flights a day between Cairo and Yanbu and three flights a week to Abha. He said that GACA is willing to give licenses to airlines from other countries as long as they adhere to the Kingdom’s safety norms.

Khaled Rgib, head of AlMasira Universal Airlines in Jeddah, said the new flights have been started to meet demand, and that the airline is planning to increase flights to other Saudi destinations such as Abha and Qassim.

The dispute between the Saudi and Egyptian aviation authorities over airlines from both countries landing at airports in both countries has recently been widely reported in the Saudi and Egyptian press. In a previous statement, Al-Khaibari said the disagreement is over the open sky policy between the two countries and that disagreements have not reached a crisis stage.

GACA had previously stopped Egyptian planes from landing at Madinah airport after the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority stopped the Kingdom’s two budget airlines, Sama and Nas, from landing in Cairo.

The air route between Egypt and the Kingdom is very busy with over three million passengers traveling between the two countries annually. Allowing new airlines into the sector will create some 4,000 job opportunities, said Al-Khaibari, adding that this would also help boost business as flights would be able to leave from Riyadh, Jeddah, Qassim, Tabuk and Abha.

He added that King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah receives 21 Egypt Air flights a week and that this increases to 56 during the Haj and Umrah seasons.