Saudi airline suspends Canada flights amid diplomatic row
Saudi Arabia’s state airline has suspended direct flights to Toronto because of a diplomatic row with Canada.~’¨
It is one of the measures being taken by Saudi Arabia after Canada publicly called for the release of civil rights activists.
Saudi Arabian Airlines announced on Twitter that it will suspend all flights to and from Toronto from Monday (August 13).
Saudi has also frozen new trade and investment, expelled the Canadian ambassador and is pulling Saudi students from Canadian schools.
Undeterred, Canada responded by saying it would continue to advocate for human rights.
Canada’s foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland said: "We will never hesitate to promote these values and we believe that this dialogue is critical to international diplomacy.”
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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