Korean Air to resume direct flights to Kingdom’s cities

Korean Air said yesterday it will resume direct flights between Korea and Saudi Arabia starting on Nov. 9. The announcement was made during an event about Connect Korea at the Sofitel Hotel in Alkhobar.
Ha Man-kee, Korean Air regional manager in the Kingdom, said: “We will commence the direct service three times a week, flying from Seoul/Incheon first to Riyadh and then onto Jeddah. The Seoul/Incheon-Riyadh-Jeddah flights will operate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.” He continued, “Saudi Arabia and Korea have had commercial connections. In the 1970s and 1980s, the time known as the ‘Middle East Boom’ years, Korean companies won many valuable construction contracts, contributing greatly to Korea’s economic progress.”
To facilitate travel between the two nations, Korean Air operated flights to Jeddah and Dhahran, the biggest markets in the region at that time. The demand for plant construction in Saudi Arabia has once more increased, and again Korean construction companies are part of the new boom. “Korean Air expects the demand for passenger traffic in the region to increase with high growth potential,” he said.
Ha Man-Kee pointed out that the network expansion would also be of interest to transit passengers from neighboring countries to Korea, including Japan and China, who will travel to Saudi Arabia via Korean Air’s hub in Seoul. He added, “We hope to attract business travelers visiting Saudi Arabia.”