Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said that Kingdom began allowing domestic flights to operate at full capacity on Wednesday instead of limiting the number of available seats as a COVID-19 precautionary measures.

Flights in the Kingdom resumed in May, but GACA had said at the time that all middle seats must remain empty to maintain social distancing measures between passengers.

The authority urged passengers to wear face masks throughout their flights and to disinfect their hands regularly.

Local tourism has become increasingly popular in Saudi Arabia in the past year, as the pandemic forced the Kingdom to halt international flights and ban travel for several months at a time.

Despite the resumption of international flights, many Saudi nationals have opted to travel around the country instead.