JEDDAH: British Airways is expanding its capacity to meet the growing number of pilgrims coming for this year’s Haj. “We will be operating aircraft with larger capacity to accommodate the pilgrims,” Willie Walsh, CEO of British Airways, told a press conference at the residence of British Consul General Kate Rudd on Sunday. The carrier, which is run purely on commercial basis, operates 10 flights to the Kingdom, five each to Riyadh and Jeddah since its return after a gap of five years.
Walsh, during his three-day visit, hosted celebratory events in Riyadh on Saturday and in Jeddah on Sunday night, to mark the return of direct flights from the Kingdom’s two principal aviation hubs to the airline’s 4.3 billion pound home at London Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
After a four-year period, the airline resumed operations in the Kingdom on June 1. “Both routes are performing well and just after one month of operating the service the airline has decided to increase its capacity on the Jeddah service from Oct. 31 to a Boeing 777,” Walsh said.