Saudia to Hike Domestic Flights

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), the kingdom’s flagship carrier, is to ramp up the frequency of its domestic and internal flights as part of a widespread restructuring of its flight network. The national carrier will increase the number of direct flights between Jeddah and Riyadh and significantly increase traffic with other Middle Eastern countries, director general Khaled Al Molhem said in comments published by Saudi Gazette.

Its existing Boeing 747 aircraft are being phased out, to be replaced with the more fuel-efficient wide-bodied Boeing 777, the airline chief said. The national carrier reported a 20% increase in passengers in the first half of the year to 168,300, compared to the year earlier period. The first phase of restructuring will see flights between the Saudi capital and Dammam increase from five to seven daily, with a reduced wait time of two-and-a-half hours between flights.

The Jeddah to Dammam route will see an increase to eight daily flights, with a two-hour delay between services, the paper reported. Internationally, Saudia will operate 17 flights a week to Beirut, up from 11, an additional five weekly flights to Bahrain and will add four more flights to its weekly Qatar route. Services to Sana’a, Yemen, will rise from three flights to five weekly, Al Molhem said. - Arabia Business