Egypt and Iran have agreed to resume direct flights between their capitals, three decades after the two nations severed diplomatic relations.

Egypt’s minister of civil aviation Ahmed Shafiq and Iranian vice-president and tourism chief Hamid Baghai oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Sameh Hefni, who heads Egypt’s civil aviation authority and Hamid Ghavabesh, deputy chief of the Iranian national aviation company, according to a report in our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News.

“This accord will replace the one signed between both countries in 1976 and is in line with the developments in air transport,” Hefni said.

The agreement provides for 28 flights between Cairo and Tehran per week, but does not specify when flights will resume.