The first commercial flight in years touched down at Yemen’s al-Ghaydah Airport on Thursday following its restoration with the help of the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY).

The airport in al-Mahra governorate welcomed the passengers aboard the Yemenia Airways flight, marking the resumption of arrivals, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

SPA said that the Yemenia Airways plane came from Riyan International Airport in Hadramout governorate.

“The project to [restore] al-Ghaydah Airport aims to increase the airport’s efficiency, ensure the highest safety levels and facilitate transportation,” according to SPA. Through the project, SDRPY sought to “boost the quality of services provided to travelers and airlines in accordance with the requirements of the international air navigation systems.”

The SDRPY has so far implemented 229 projects and development initiatives to serve the Yemeni people in seven main sectors, SPA said. These sectors range between education, health, water, energy, transportation, agriculture and fisheries, and capacity building of government institutions.