RIYADH, 15 July 2007 — Sama, the new low-fare carrier in Saudi Arabia, yesterday celebrated its inaugural flight into Abha Airport, the first arrival of its new service to the tourist resort from Dammam.
The Sama flight was received by senior officials of Abha Airport, headed by Musa ibn Mohammed Al-Qahtani, the airport’s deputy manager.
Sama’s Commercial Chief Officer Samer Atawi and Director of Marketing Faisal Al Duhaim, and groups of Abha children also welcomed passengers with flowers.
With 140 passengers onboard, Sama’s inaugural Abha flight left from King Fahd International Airport, Dammam, at 7.50 a.m. and landed at Abha Airport at 9.40 a.m.
“We are delighted to be starting this service to Abha, thereby providing our low fares and great service to a new market, and making this popular destination available to our existing customers,” said Sama CEO Andrew Cowen, who was onboard the flight.
He added, “Sama wanted to begin services to Abha as soon we launched the airline. But we have had to wait until we had sufficient aircraft to do so. That day has now arrived. We are also very honored to have been named sponsor of Abha Summer Festival 2007 as the official airline.” The addition of this new destination, Cowen said, is part of Sama’s strategy to cover all major Saudi Arabian cities, and to address the ongoing growth of inbound air transportation in the Kingdom.
With the launch of the new service, Sama now has six destinations - Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah, Jizan and Abha.
Musa bin Mohammed Al-Qahtani, deputy manager of Abha Regional Airport, said: “We are pleased to share Sama’s celebration of this new service. I am sure that the new route will bring valuable benefits to travelers, helping facilitate the flow into one of the favorite destinations in the Kingdom. We wish every success to Sama.”
Passenger Mohammed Al-Ghamdi said, “I was lucky to be onboard the first Sama flight to Abha from Dammam. On this flight, I experienced the real meaning of Sama’s slogan. I would like to thank Sama’s officials for accompanying and receiving us and for an enjoyable and comfortable flight.”
To cope with the expected number of bookings, Sama plans to increase its service to Abha to twice-daily flights later in the month from Dammam and Riyadh as well.
Each flight has 148 seats, and fares are priced at SR109 (Riyadh-Abha) and SR179 (Dammam-Abha).
