Saudi Arabian Airlines, the kingdom's national carrier, has announced the opening of its new office in Bahrain as part of its regional expansion plan.

The new office is located on the 21st floor in the Platinum Tower near the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Seef District. It has a total area of 398 m and has been equipped with the latest technologies to provide booking and sales for services in addition to the airline management offices.

Saudia director general Ahmed Nema Ali inaugurated the new office at a colourful ceremony held in the presence of the several top company officials besides Gulf Air CEO Maher Salman Al Musallam and Bahrain Civil Aviation Authority authorities.

Commenting on the launch, Abdul Karim Al Rebean, Saudi Arabian Airlines general manager (Gulf & ME region) said it is aimed at making a quantum leap in the level of services "Saudi" provides to its customers.

"Through this strategic location with the well equipped offices that reflect the Airlines’ corporate image we look into bringing all departments under one roof in order to save the passenger and visitors’ time and efforts. It also offers modern and comfortable facilities in line with our strategy to upgrade our sales and reservations offices around the world," he stated.

Sami Rasheed, the manager of the new branch, said Saudia began its first flights to Bahrain in the sixties from Dhahran International Airport. It started operating fixed flights to and from Bahrain starting from 1971 with three scheduled flights per week and five weekly flights from Riyadh and Jeddah to Manama.

Currently the Saudi national carrier flies daily from Riyadh and operates 5 flights a week from Jeddah in both directions, remarked Rasheed.-TradeArabia News Service