RIYADH, 25 October 2003 — Air-India, which has announced new destinations to Madras, Trivandrum and Hyderabad as part of its winter schedule from Saudi Arabia effective from Sunday, has indicated a likely fare hike during the upcoming month of Ramadan.

“The national carrier is adding 3,280 seats per week from Riyadh, 2211 seats from Jeddah and 1809 seats per week from Dammam, with a direct flight to Madras from Riyadh every Wednesday, and from Jeddah every Sunday,” A-I Regional Manager P. Senthil Kumar told reporters. A new destination from Jeddah is a weekly flight to Trivandrum via Calicut every Monday.

Indian expatriates residing in Dammam can have a direct flight to Hyderabad every Saturday. There will be a total of eight B-747 flights from Riyadh, besides eleven A310 and nine A310 flights from Jeddah and Dammam respectively. Indian expats from Bangalore could avail AI flights operating to Riyadh via Bombay on all days except Sundays.

Weekend (Thursday) flights on the Cochin- Riyadh, Riyadh-Bangalore, Madras-Riyadh, Delhi-Riyadh and Ahmedabad-Riyadh sectors have drawn “a good response mainly from the banking and white-collar staff,” according to him. (Javid Hassan)

SIA’s First Reintroduced Flight Brings Pilgrims

JEDDAH, 25 October 2003 — The first of three weekly flights reintroduced by Singapore Airlines (SIA) landed at King Abdul Aziz International Airport on Wednesday afternoon.

“Most of its 300 incoming passengers were Umrah pilgrims from Singapore and other Far Eastern countries,” SIA’s airport station manager Benjamin Tan told Arab News. Amirul Akbar Kadr captained the flight SQ426 operated by B777-200A aircraft.

The airline’s first return flight SQ425 followed later in the evening with expats mostly going on annual vacation. “I was waiting for SIA to relaunch their services,” said Daisy, a staff nurse at the King Khaled National Guard Hospital. She was among those going on vacation by the reintroduced flight to Manila via Singapore.

Sheraton Makkah Observes Safety Week

MAKKAH, 25 October 2003 — Sheraton Makkah Hotel & Tower concludes its annual environment, health, safety and security week today. The weeklong event is organized in cooperation with the Civil Defense.

Tourism Leaders Call for Nationalization Drive

DUBAI, 25 October 2003 — A human resources expert has urged tourism and hospitality leaders in the UAE to spearhead a nationalization drive in their industry. He has cited the 0.2 percent rate of Emirati participation in the sector as a serious cause for concern. Abulqader Al Khaja, CEO at the Dubai-based training and learning consultancy knowledgenetwork (knet), recently told the Dubai chapter of Skal, an international organization of tourism leaders that paving the way for nationalization was the responsibility of everyone.

“Industry leaders need to pave the way for a drive to increase the participation of nationals in the workforce. The UAE tourism sector faces challenging times in this regard,” he said. “By 2006, there will be another 150,000 nationals looking for employment — increasing the size of the total workforce by 20 percent. So, if we’re to absorb these increasing numbers, we must invest in customized training to take the needs of both the employer and the jobseeker into account,” Al Khaja added.

Le Meridien Kuwait’s Refurbishment Under Way

KUWAIT, 25 October 2003 — Le Meridien, a luxury hotel group, has started a program of major renovation at its property in Kuwait, with the new look due to be unveiled next spring. The property, formerly the Ritz Hotel Kuwait, is undergoing a major refurbishment — as well as extension of rooms and facilities — in preparation for its rebranding as Le Meridien Kuwait. “We’ve started on a substantial development program at the hotel, which will include a 30 percent increase of room stock to take us to 78 units,” Le Meridien Kuwait General Manager Hannes Yaghi said. “The redesign should give us a fresh and dynamic edge in the market, as well as help us capitalize on our successful opening rates strategy, which has seen us achieve 100 percent occupancy consistently since we took over management on Jan. 1,” he said. The refurbishment of Le Meridien Kuwait is one of five new projects over three years in the country, totaling almost 450 rooms. Le Meridien Kuwait will have a further extension in mid-2005 with the addition of a custom-built 120-room tower and convention center. The second property to be added to the group’s portfolio is Le Meridien Safat at Fahad Al Salem Street in Kuwait City, which is scheduled to open toward the end of the year.