Shoura Council Secretary-General Muhammad Al-Ghamdi said Monday that the decision was taken at the 22nd regular session of the council held under the chairmanship of its Vice Chairman Bandar Bin Hamzah Hajjar.

Al-Ghamdi said the council's committee on transport, communications and information technology tabled its observations on the national carrier’s annual reports for the fiscal years 1428/1429 AH and 1430/1431 AH.

The official pointed out that Saudia’s performance is important for a large country like Saudi Arabia, which promotes religious, domestic and international  travel through its local and international flights.

He said the members wanted to discuss with senior airline officials how best to improve the airline's operations.

During Monday's discussion, the Shoura members reviewed the domestic and international services of the airline and discussed at length how the present fleet could be increased to provide better services for the airline's passengers.

The house also discussed the airline's losses in some of its local and foreign sectors. A member pointed out that the rights of the airline's passengers must be respected when flights are delayed.

Another member said there is a strong need to improve the airline's online services to provide adequate information to tourists who fly Saudia for leisure.

According to the airline's annual report, there is a remarkable increase in the number of passengers who make reservations online. A larger number of people also make use of the self-service machines at the airports to obtain their boarding passes, it stated.