Many of them described the move by the national carrier as unjustifiable, especially during the summer vacation, which witnesses a substantial increase in the number of travelers.
There are increasing fears that the decision would lead to a drastic drop in the number of tourists visiting the historic region, located north of Riyadh, and subsequent disruption of commercial activity, according to a report in Al-Riyadh Arabic newspaper.
Saudia recently decided to cut the number of services from Hail to Riyadh and Jeddah. It also decided to cancel all services in the Hail-Dammam sector.
According to Khaled Al-Sobai, a local citizen, Saudia’s decision is ill-advised.
“The move will cause immense suffering to the local people, particularly the sick who need to travel out of the city to receive advanced medical treatment,” Al-Sobai said.
He added that many sick people in the region rely on Saudia flights to travel to Riyadh for specialized treatment at major hospitals in the capital.
He said the airline’s move had come as a shock to many. “Nobody knows what prompted the airline management to take such a strange decision. Even though Saudia was using small aircraft in this sector, all flights were operating at full capacity,” he said.
Al-Sobai added that he might have understood the decision if there was no demand from local residents.
“On the contrary, a number of people had always been on the waiting list,” he said.
Local resident Saud Al-Hammad said the airline’s decision has forced him to depend on road transport to take his sick mother for treatment in Riyadh and other cities.
“Sometimes, we travel to Qassim by car and then board a flight to Riyadh from there,” he said.
Al-Sobai claimed that Hail was currently witnessing a major economic boom and the tourism sector was its main beneficiary. He added that this necessitated a substantial increase in flights to and from the province, rather than a reduction.
Al-Sobai blamed the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) for the current crisis. He also underlined the need for giving permission to airline companies from the Gulf Cooperation Council and other countries to start services to Hail.
Ali Al-Ammash, secretary-general of the Hail Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that Saudia’s decision would result in Hail being virtually cut off from other parts of the Kingdom.
He noted that the decision came nearly one month after the suspension of services to the region by the Kingdom’s private low-cost airlines.
Al-Ammash said the local economy will be severely hit by the unexpected move.
“The decision would result in a slowdown of commercial activities, especially in the tourism sector,” he said. “Subsequently, other businesses, including hotels, furnished apartments, restaurants, car rentals, travel agencies, tour operators, cargo firms, taxi companies and the major service sectors, would also be affected.”
Businessman Badar Al-Moajal urged the concerned authorities to intervene and solve the developing crisis before it was too late. “The businessmen and investors are the biggest losers following Saudia’s decision,” he said, suggesting that there should be at least five daily services to and from Hail.
