JEDDAH, 14 October 2006 — Al Khayala, the niche market business traveler’s airline, quadrupled its daily flight schedule recently by opening two new routes. Daily flights now operate from Riyadh and Jeddah to Dammam in the Eastern Province.
The new routes now link the Kingdom’s three main business centers and lay the foundation for expansion just one year after the company’s inaugural flight in July 2006 when it obtained the first license for the private sector to operate scheduled flights among the cities of the Kingdom.
Al Khayala Chief Executive Officer Anas Rees said that the travel sector in the Kingdom has responded favorably to the new airline. “The target group clearly approves of the service,” he said.
Rees thought that the new route was an indication of the potential for civil aviation sector in Saudi Arabia.
Based on the data from the first full operating year, Ramadan was the optimum time to announce the expansion of services. “Improved access to Jeddah — and therefore Makkah — provides an efficient service to Umra pilgrims at the most appropriate time,” he said.
Al Khayala has prioritized the routes linking the Kingdom’s three main cities for support and development. Once the routes are routinely operational, the company hopes to expand to include flights to Medina during the pilgrimage season. Rees said that the young airline had gained its good reputation through a combination of imaginative marketing, high quality of service and personal attention for the corporate traveler normally found only on private or charter jet travel. “We found out what the business and first class traveler wanted and we put together what has proved to be a successful package,” he said.
The investment in new routes marks a confidence in the current rapid growth of travel and aviation service. The region is an attractive for investment in transport and travel infrastructure and new airlines are expected to start up in the near future to cash in on the growing business market.
Al Khayala Airlines is one of the strategic business units of National Air Services (NAS), a Saudi company established in 1999 operating out of Riyadh and Jeddah. Saudi Arabia has been its base and headquarters of regional operations since it was established in 1999. Al Khayala uses Airbus A319 planes with cabins specifically configured to accommodate only 44 passengers instead of the normal commercial capacity of 120.
NAS currently operates the largest and fastest growing private fleet in the Middle East. The fleet includes 47 private aircraft including Hawker, Falcon, Gulfstream, Airbus A319 and Airbus A320 and Boeing Business Jets (BBJ).
The company also operates NetJets Middle East Fractional Aircraft Ownership and Leasing Program, the Aircraft Charter Program, and the Aircraft Management Program.