Saudi Airlines says ready for summer rush

Saudi Arabian Airlines is well-prepared to handle the summer rush of local travelers, said Khaled Al-Mulhim, director general of Saudi Arabian Airlines.
Saudia has prepared weekly additional flights for increased capacity in many local airports.
Al-Mulhim confirmed that Saudia is working hard to develop its fleets and overcome the annual problem of summer crowds.
“Due to high demand on local flights, we have increased the capacity of local flights across the Kingdom. We have targeted tourist destinations like Abha, Jazan, Tabuk, Najran and Al-Baha as a priority. We hope not to see any further rush in local airports during the summer of 2013, he said.
According to Al-Mulhim, Saudia is trying to tackle the annual summer crowd.
“We have increased seat capacity for northern areas by 47 percent and the southern region by 53 percent compared to what it was in the summer of 2010, and especially to tourist destinations,” he said.
“Our recent reports show that the seat capacity for Abha Airport is estimated at 40,656 and the increased rate is estimated at 56 percent.”
However, Saudia also increased the total seat capacity to and from Jazan Airport by 19,998 seats per week. The increase rate is estimated at 63 percent compared to the seat capacity in summer 2010.
Samar Al-Ghamdi, a tourist adviser working for a local tourism company, said that local destinations are gaining the interest of Saudi travelers due to unstable politics in neighboring countries. She claimed that increasing the capacity of local flights was a must to tackle the higher demand on local tourist destinations.
“We have noticed that the crowds have increased in local airports following the Arab Spring,” she said.
“For the past three years, we have had Ramadan in the summer, which encouraged most expats to spend Ramadan in the Kingdom and also to bring their relatives to perform Umrah.”
According to Al-Ghamdi, there is no doubt that they have been struggling to find seats to local destinations such as Jeddah, Abha, and Jazan.
Fahad Abdulrahman, a Saudi employee working at a private bank, Saudis are unable to finance international travel due to the high cost of international trips.
“Inflation and the unstable political status among Arab countries has stopped most middle-class families from traveling to low-cost countries like Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. In contrast, some Saudis are trying to get loans to fund international trips, but then struggle to repay their debt. As a result, middle-class Saudis are currently demanding flights to local destinations,” he said.