In a major move, national carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has increased its seating capacity on a number of key international leisure destinations across its route network including Cairo, Geneva, Los Angeles, Manchester and Munich to cater to the growing summer demand.

From now until mid-September, flights to Geneva will operate twice a day; while Manchester and Munich will have an additional two flights per week, taking them up to daily services respectively.
According to Saudia, the Los Angeles sector has an additional two flights added, taking it up to a five-times-weekly service.

The Cairo route, operating nonstop from five airports within the kingdom (Abha, Dammam, Riyadh, Madinah and Jeddah) has received a 30 per cent increase in the total number of flights, compared to the regular scheduled services.

Both Airbus and Boeing narrow and widebody aircraft will be deployed on the routes receiving the additional capacity, said a top official.

"The increase in flights is in direct response to heightened summer travel demand, and we are pleased to offer our guests additional flexibility and convenience during the holidays," remarked  Khalid Albassam, the VP Network & Revenue Management at Saudia.

Albassam said Saudia offers seamless travel options, with nearly all flights operating non-stop from Jeddah and Riyadh to key destinations around the world.

Saudia operates 86 destinations from the kingdom across four continents. The airline recently announced plans to operate flights to the island holiday destination of Mauritius.

As part of the airline’s SV2020 Transformation Plan, multiple new aircraft are joining the Saudia fleet monthly, allowing the carrier to optimise its network to offer increased capacity on existing routes, and also to introduce new destinations, remarked Albassam.  

The ongoing fleet investment will bring the airline’s average age to 3.75 years by the end of this year, which is a key element of Saudia’s targeted strategy – to operate one of the youngest fleets in the skies. By 2020, the airline is set to operate 200 aircraft in its fleet.

At the 2017 Skytrax Awards held at the Paris Air Show in June, SAUDIA was awarded “World’s Most Improved Airline” of the year, he stated.

The award recognizes an airline’s growth and improvement across a number of categories, in a single year, he added.-TradeArabia News Service