THE HUB With most international carriers flying to Saudi Arabia
and passenger numbers increasing as a result of a strategic development programme, reaching the Kingdom has never been easier
Operating domestic and international flights to more than 70 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, the national airline of the Kingdom, Saudi Arabian Airlines is based at King Abdulaziz International Airport, in Jeddah. Second in size only to the UAE's Emirates Airline, the carrier was originally the largest airline in the region. Saudi Arabian Airlines was founded in September 1946 as a fully-owned govern- ment agency under the control of the Ministry of Defence, with the American carrier Trans World Airlines running it under a management contract. The airline's other major hubs are Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. The airline operates additional domestic and international charter flights during Ramadan and the Hajj season. In early 2011, Saudi Arabian Airlines increased flight frequencies to Egypt at a time of political uncertainty. The car- rier operated around 18 daily services to the country during the anti-government protests and, at the same time, introduced more flights to Cairo, Alexandria, Borg El-Ahab and Sharm El Sheikh for Sau- dis wishing to return to the Kingdom.
This year, the carrier is due to join SkyTeam, the global airline alliance currently partnering 15 members to give frequent business travellers more flexibility and more choices for international travel. The carrier will be the first from the Mid- dle East to enter the airline alliance's ranks, adding 35 new destinations to the network. A press statement issued by SkyTeam at the time of the announcement last year said that Saudi Arabian Airlines was focused on its four-year turnaround programme. The strategy, to be completed by 2013, involves modernising its infrastructure, restructur- ing the domestic and international network and upgrading its fleet. Establishing 100 percent nationalisation throughout the airline was another target that has already been completed, according to Abdul Aziz Al-Hazmi, Saudi Arabian Airlines' deputy director.
The Saudi Press
Agency (SPA) revealed last February that the government had sanctioned a US$666 million investment in the Kingdom's airports
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Some two weeks after the SkyTeam announcement, Al-Hazmi told reporters that sales had increased 12 percent as a result of the carrier's strategic develop- ment programme. He added that the strategy to privatise the airline and its operations has made headway with the carrier's ground services, catering and cargo divisions. Other areas to have improved since the strategy was introduced, include the number of planes in the fleet and the in-flight services. The carrier agreed to purchase 35 A320s, 15 A321s and eight A330s from Airbus, 12 Boe- ing 777s (and an option for a further 10) and eight Dreamliners. Of those orders, the car- rier received its first A321 in Hamburg during a handover ceremony from Airbus. The plane has 20 business-class and 145 guest-class seats respectively and is equipped with modern audio and visual entertainment. This year, Saudi Arabian Airlines will focus on its technical and maintenance operations, improving services and increasing opera- tional efficiency, boosting profits and integra- tion into SkyTeam. It will also launch a mobile phone service that will initially allow passen- gers to receive boarding passes, select seats and view flight schedules. Travellers will eventually be able to receive and pay for their tickets and reserve seats using their phones.
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