Saudi Arabian Airlines expects disruption to last the whole year

 State-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines -Saudia - does not expect flight operations to return to normal until the end of the year and is asking some cabin crew employees to suspend their contracts until then, according to internal emails seen by Reuters.

Saudi Arabia has suspended international flights and pilgrimages to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a major source of foreign visitors to the kingdom.

“Flight operations shall not be returning to normal, until December 2020, expectedly,” the airline said in two separate emails to cabin crew in which they were requested to suspend their contracts from this month until the end of the year.

It was not immediately clear how many cabin crew employees were being asked to suspend their contracts.

The Jeddah-based carrier, also known as Saudia, did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment outside normal business hours on Thursday.

The second Winter at Tantora Festival in AlUla in North West Saudi Arabia has started............

The second Winter at Tantora Festival in AlUla in North West Saudi Arabia has started!    This is a sensational three-month celebration that will showcase the very best in international music, art and culture connecting East and West as the AlUla county has done for thousands of years. 

This festival is starting just months after Saudi Arabia introduced tourist visas to citizens from 49 countries making the Kingdom more accessible than ever with the UNESCO World Heritage site at Hegra in AlUla among those featured in a global marketing campaign.

The festival is part of the Cultural Manifesto that was launched by the festival organisers, the Royal Commission for AlUla, in Paris in October as part of a long-term strategy to transform the region and open the region as a global living museum and place of culture, heritage and the arts.

North West Saudi Arabia opens up for the second "Winter at Tantora" Festival in AlUla

The second Winter at Tantora Festival in AlUla in North West Saudi Arabia has started!    This is a sensational a three-month celebration that will showcase the very best in international music, art and culture connecting East and West as the AlUla county has done for thousands of years. 

This festival is starting just months after Saudi Arabia introduced tourist visas to citizens from 49 countries making the Kingdom more accessible than ever with the UNESCO World Heritage site at Hegra in AlUla among those featured in a global marketing campaign.

The festival is part of the Cultural Manifesto that was launched by the festival organisers, the Royal Commission for AlUla, in Paris in October as part of a long-term strategy to transform the region and open the region as a global living museum and place of culture, heritage and the arts.

Etihad Airways and Saudia announce major expansion of their commercial partnership

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Saudia, the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have marked the first anniversary of their commercial partnership by announcing 12 new codeshare routes to key destinations in Asia and Europe.

Since signing their agreement in October, 2018, the two airlines have placed their flight codes on each other’s services between Abu Dhabi and the Saudi Arabian cities of Jeddah, Riyadh and Medina. Saudia has also added its ‘SV’ code to Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and 10 more destinations – Ahmedabad, Belgrade, Brisbane, Chicago, Dusseldorf, Lagos, Melbourne, Rabat, Seychelles and Sydney – while Etihad has placed its ‘EY’ code on Saudia flights to Peshawar, Multan, Port Sudan and Vienna.

Under the deal announced today, Saudia will progressively add its code to Etihad flights between Abu Dhabi and 12 more destinations in 10 countries – Amsterdam, Baku, Brussels, Dublin, Moscow-Domodedovo, Hong Kong, Kathmandu, Bangkok, Phuket, Nagoya, Tokyo and Seoul, significantly extending Saudia’s reach.

NEOM enters strategic partnership with SAUDIA to promote the newest tourism destination

The national carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has entered a strategic partnership with NEOM Co. in a wide-ranging agreement to work together on promoting NEOM as a top location for tourists worldwide.

Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding signed in Riyadh today, SAUDIA will work with NEOM to create worldwide awareness of the Kingdom's giga project. Both parties also agreed to collaborate to maximize exposure of NEOM, a key component of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 economic diversification plan.

In addition, both parties agreed that SAUDIA Holidays will develop products and packaged experiences for visitors, exploiting the competitive advantage of SAUDIA's global network covering 94 destinations.

Saudi Airlines starts flights to Marrakesh and Athens

Saudi Airlines has launched a second international destination, Marrakech, less than 24 hours after its launch to Athens. On Thursday, June 6, it launched its first direct and regular flights to Marrakesh, the second destination in the Kingdom of Morocco after Casablanca. 3) weekly flights in one direction from Jeddah, and was inaugurated at the dawn of the day in the presence of the Director General of Saudi Arabian Airlines Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser and a number of officials of the operational sectors in "Saudi" and government agencies operating at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.

Etihad Airways and Saudia to build on existing codeshare partnership

Photo Saudia

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi national flag carrier, Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA), announced positive growth in traffic since their codeshare partnership began in November 2018.

Jointly, Etihad and SAUDIA have flown over 16,000 guests across the partnership, solidifying the airlines’ commitment to growing inbound business and tourism in their respective markets. 

Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group said: “The close and expanding partnership between Etihad and Saudia is giving us a unique opportunity to build on the deep ties that exist between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, As the national airline of the UAE, this is - a role we are extremely proud to play.

“With greater choice now available, more flexibility across both our schedules, and world-leading products and services, together, we now fly approximately 150 guests per day across each other’s networks. Our plan is to grow this number considerably through expansion of the codeshare agreement in the coming months, and to deliver more benefits to our customers.”

Photo Etihad

The codeshare agreement has seen ‘EY’ and ‘SV’ codes already placed on 14 routes with the addition of Vienna this week. In the coming months, Etihad will place its ‘EY’ code on, Tunis, Sharm El Sheikh and Alexandria. At the same time, Saudia will place its ‘SV’ code on Etihad flights to Tokyo, Nagoya, and Baku. Phase two for the ‘EY’ code will include Algiers, Dhaka and Erbil. And Phase two for the ‘SV’ code will include Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Moscow, Dusseldorf, Hong Kong, Kathmandu, Lagos, Minsk, Rabat, Astana, and more points in India.

Saudia halts Toronto flights after diplomatic spat.

The national airline of Saudi Arabia, Saudia has confirmed it has now suspended flights to and from Toronto, Canada following a series of measures the Saudi Kingdom instigated this week as the diplomatic tensions between the two nations intensify.

The Saudi's have frozen new trade and investments with Canada after the Canadian government in Ottawa urged Riyadh to free arrested civil rights activists. The kingdom also recalled its ambassador to Canada as well as telling the Canadian ambassador to leave the country within 24 hours.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said, “Canada will always stand up for human rights in Canada and around the world, and women’s rights are human rights.”  Currently, the trading relationship between the two nations is worth nearly $4 billion a year and the new diplomatic tensions put in jeopardy a  $13 billion defence contract.

Saudi Airlines receives its last Airbus A330

The national airline of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Airlines took delivery of its last Airbus A330-300 from the manufactuer in the French city of Toulouse yesterday.

The airline had ordered 50 new Airbus aircraft back on 24th June 2015, comprising of 20 A330-300s and 30 A320s, signing in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Chairman of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development, and former French President Francois Hollande.  

Saudi Airlines took the first plane arrived on 18th August 2016 and on Tuesday 12th December 2017 the airline took delivery of Airbus A330-300 number 20 at a special hand-over ceremony in the French city of Toulouse. 

The arrival of the new aircraft forms a powerful addition to the fleet of Saudi Arabia, which is currently witnessing unprecedented modernization and development as part of its transformation programme. 

The seat configuration for the Saudi Airbus is 30 seats in business class and 300 in economy. All the  seats are equipped with special screens that allow passengers to enjoy a wide variety of audio/visual entertainmnet for their flight. The carrier boasts it offers over 3000 hours of entertainment programs, passengers can enjoy.

You Must Cover Up To Fly Saudia

The national carrier of Saudi Arabia has issued a very strict dress code for passengers who want to fly on one of their aircraft.  If passengers deviate from the new demanding  new rules Saudia Airlines will deny them boarding.  

On the new code of conduct for passengers on their website, Saudia tells travellers not to be “clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offence to other passengers. Women exposing legs or arms, or wearing too thin or too tight clothes and men wearing shorts exposing legs."