- JEDDAH: Saudi Arabian Airlines has reached advanced stages in its negotiations to join one of the three major international airline alliances as part of its efforts to strengthen its position on the world stage, its Director General Khaled Al-Molhem said Wednesday.
“The final arrangements for joining the alliance will be completed within a short period,” the director general said. “We have received positive signals from member airlines thanks to Saudia’s international reputation and its strategic geographic position.”
Al-Molhem said the move was aimed at achieving qualitative improvement in Saudia services and ensuring its presence all over the world. “It will also help Saudia make use of the networks of member airlines and strengthen its competitive position,” he said.
Saudia has been holding talks with three major alliances such as Star Alliance, Oneworld and SkyTeam, which account for about 80 percent of global air traffic. Saudia’s membership in these alliances will help the carrier provide international connections to its passengers through participating airlines.
“In order to get membership in these alliances, an airline company should fulfill certain conditions and criteria and improve its service performance,” Al-Molhem said.
He spoke about Saudia’s strategic plan to intensify its presence in various parts of the world throughout the week by operating international flights from its main airports in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam.
He said the purchase of 82 modern aircraft would strengthen the airline’s position to join the alliances. The national flag carrier has signed deals to buy 35 Airbus 320s, 15 Airbus 321s, eight Airbus 330s, 12 Boeing 777-300s and 12 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Al-Molhem underlined Saudia’s efforts to modernize its technical infrastructure. “We have also developed our operation, marketing and finance systems keeping pace with the latest developments in the industry.”
Star Alliance is the world's first and largest airline alliance, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Founded in 1997, it has 28 member airlines. The alliance currently has more than 21,200 daily departures to 1,172 airports in 181 countries with an annual passenger number of 623.5 million.
Based in Vancouver, Oneworld airlines operate to 819 destinations in 142 countries. It operates over 8,700 daily flights, carrying 307 million passengers on a combined fleet of over 2,300 aircraft. SkyTeam consists of 13 carriers from four continents. It operates over 12,500 flights with a combined fleet of 3,400 aircraft (including associate carriers). Furthermore, the alliance has 420 lounges worldwide to serve its 385 million annual passengers.
