50 INFRASTRUCTURE Aviation
UP IN THE AIR
WITH MOST INTERNATIONAL CARRIERS FLYING TO SAUDI ARABIA, REACHING THE KINGDOM HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER.
The national airline of the Kingdom is Saudi Arabian Airline (Saudia), based in Jeddah. The flag carrier operates domestic and international scheduled flights to more than 70 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Domestic and international charter flights are also operated, mostly during Ramadan and the Hajj season. The airline's main operational base is
at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. Other major hubs are Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport and King
saudiarabia 2011
Fahd International Airport in Dammam. The airline used to be the largest car- rier in the region, but it has since been overtaken by the UAE's Emirates Airline. Saudi Arabian Airlines was founded in September 1946 as a fully-owned gov- ernment agency under the control of the Ministry of Defence, with the American airline Trans World Airlines running the carrier under a management contract. In early 2011, the airline increased frequencies to Egypt at a time of political uncertainty. The carrier was, at the time of
writing, operating 18 daily services to the country as anti-government protests con- tinued. Saudia said it had introduced more flights to Cairo, Alexandria, Borg El-Ahab and Sharm El Sheikh for Saudis wishing to return to the Kingdom. Services were being operated from several airports in Saudi, in- cluding Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Madinah. On January 10, 2011, Saudia confirmed it would join Skyteam in 2012. The carrier will be the first from the Middle East to enter the airline alliance's ranks, adding 35 new destinations to the network. A press state- ment issued by Skyteam at the time of the an- nouncement said that Saudi Arabian Airlines was focused on its four-year turnaround programme. The strategy, to be completed by 2013, involves modernising its infrastructure, restructuring the domestic and international network and upgrading its fleet. Establishing 100 percent Saudisation throughout the air- line was another target that has already been completed, according to Abdul Aziz Al-Hazmi.
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