Dhaka, April 1 -- More than 2.5 million Syrian residents in Saudi Arabia will benefit from direct flights between Dammam and Damascus, facilitating family reunions and improving transport links between the two countries.

Flights between the two cities resumed on March 19 after a 13-year suspension, with a Syrian Air plane departing from King Fahd International Airport in Dammam to Damascus.

The morning flight complements the direct service from the Kingdom's three major cities to Syria after Syrian Air resumed operations at Saudi airports last year.

Passenger flights between the two countries were halted in 2012 when Riyadh severed ties with Damascus over Bashar Assad's crackdown on anti-government protesters at the start of the countr...