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Saudi Arabia partially lifts travel ban

Saudi Arabia has lifted its suspension on international flights for certain travellers, but will only fully reopen its skies in January 2021.

Since September 15, 2020, certain categories of Saudi citizens and residents are allowed to travel, including public and military sector employees, diplomats and their families, those working for public or non-profit private sector jobs abroad, business travellers, patients who need treatment, those studying abroad, humanitarian cases, and sports teams, the state-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reports. Gulf state citizens and non-Saudi residents with valid residency or visitors' visas may now also enter the country, conditional on proving they are COVID-19 negative. Saudis with proof of residence outside the Kingdom may also travel, and there would be a gradual move toward lifting the Umrah pilgrimage suspension.

The Kingdom would scrap all travel restrictions after January 1, 2021, with a specific date to be announced in December, SPA reports. Saudi Arabia suspended international flights six months ago to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and imposed stringent measures, including 24-hour curfews on most towns and cities.

Saudia...

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Saudi Arabia's flyadeal takes first A320neo

flyadeal (F3, Jeddah) took delivery of its first A320-200N, HZ-FAL (msn 9554), following a period of four months in storage at London Stansted, Skyliner-Aviation reported.

The Airbus narrowbody departed from Toulouse Blagnac on March 26, 2020, under its temporary registration OE-ILD, but was subsequently stored first in Shannon and then at Stansted. It was finally delivered to Jeddah on August 10 but has yet to operate any revenue flights in Saudi Arabia, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.

According to the ch-aviation fleets ownership module, the aircraft is leased from Avolon. The airline has yet to publish schedules for the new variant.

The low-cost carrier is wholly-owned by Saudia (SV, Jeddah) and currently operates a fleet of eleven A320-200s. In late 2018, it announced its intention to order thirty B737-8s only to drop the plan in July 2019, after the grounding of the B737 MAX. It then secured thirty A320neo from lessors with options for a further 20 transferred from Saudia.