Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Kingdom has repatriated about 8,500 stranded Saudi citizens from different cities in the United States.

The citizens, mostly scholarship students, remained in the US after suspension of regular air traffic due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.

Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Washington said 3,000 citizens returned home in April, while 27 flights from Washington, Los Angeles, New York, Houston and Chicago repatriated 5,500 citizens in May.

Most of the citizens came back to their homes in Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, and Madinah.

More trips are currently scheduled, with as many as 80 flights planned from various states in America expected to return 16,000-20,000 citizens back home in the coming weeks and months, according to Samer Al-Kharashi, deputy head of mission.