JEDDAH, 10 January 2004 — Singapore Airlines (SIA) is operating two Haj flights later this month to bring pilgrims from the island state. “Our incoming Haj flights are on Jan. 25 and 26 and post-Haj return flights on Feb. 24-26,” SIA General Manager Manjit Grewal told Arab News. “More than 2,500 pilgrims are coming from Singapore. They will also be traveling on our regular flights aside from special Haj flights,” he said. The number of pilgrims this time will be less than last year when 3,300 Singaporeans performed Haj. The airline operates three flights weekly from Jeddah on Boeing 777 aircraft in a two-class configuration of 323 passengers — 30 business and 293 economy. These flights offer 1,000 seats each way every week on a nonstop basis. “Both outgoing and incoming traffic was good during December. The current month is considered a low season. Our outgoing flights are already fully booked for February. In fact, we will have a full load from late January to the third week of February,” he added. The SIA, which has operated in the Kingdom since 1979 — initially with its services to Dhahran and from 1997 to Jeddah – has a network stretching across 66 cities in 36 countries with a total fleet of 102 aircraft. Twenty-five more aircraft are on order. Last week, the airline took delivery of the ultra long haul A340-500 that will operate from Singapore to Los Angeles from Feb. 3. “This will be the world’s longest nonstop service,” Grewal added. The SIA is currently hosting a 10-day “Taste of Singapore” festival at Al Salam Holiday Inn, which ends on Tuesday.
