Okaz/Saudi Gazette

WASHINGTON – Flight service will start operating from the United States of America to Saudi Arabia on a daily basis during this week. This was announced by the Saudi Embassy in US during a video conference chaired by Saudi Ambassador Princess Rima Bint Bandar.

Those who attended the meeting included Saudi consuls, acting cultural attaché, and team of embassy staffers working in operations room.

The flights will be operated to Riyadh and Jeddah from various US cities and priority will be accorded to citizens with the most compelling reasons related to coronavirus. A large number of citizens who come under priority area will be taken back home.

The embassy said that the majority of stranded citizens and those who were in critical and emergency cases, whose numbers estimated at about 3,000, have already been returned. The phase of bringing home all stranded citizens has been completed.

Princess Rima is following up on the execution of the embassy and consulates plan for the next phase of evacuation, which includes repatriation of foreign scholarship students and those residing in the United States.

During the meeting, the embassy warned that students should not leave their residence until they receive the flight ticket reservation message as this is done automatically through the online portal of those wishing to return.