Ayed Al-Jeaid, chairman of National Air Services (NAS), hosted the airline's crew and cabin staff at a ceremonial pre-departure ceremony at King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) on Monday. Simon Stewart, nasair chief executive officer (CEO), and a number of senior airport officials were present at the launching ceremony.
With promotional fare starting from SR199, nasair will operate a frequency of five flights a week from Riyadh on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The airline plans to operate a similar flight to Dubai from Jeddah this week. The Jeddah-Dubai sector will have three flights from Jeddah on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
"Dubai is the third nasair destination after Sharjah and Abu Dhabi," said Stewart, adding that the new destination comes from nasair’s keenness to expand its international route map as well to cater for the increasing passenger traffic to and from Dubai. "We have plans to increase the frequency from Riyadh from five to seven in December," he added.
Describing Dubai as an important destination in the Gulf region from the Saudi capital, Stewart said it attracted 18.4 million passengers who traveled during the first half of year 2010, a growth rate nearing 14 percent over the same period in 2009.
Stewart attributed this dramatic increase in the number of passengers from Dubai airport and other Gulf airports to the growing rates of travel, tourism and commercial air transport to and from the Middle East. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects the continued growth of the travel market in the Middle East until 2010, at a rate of 6.9 percent annually, compared to an expected average global growth rate of 4.8 percent. “Throughout this period, Dubai Airport has maintained its leading position as one of the fastest growing airports in the region,” he said.
Expressing his happiness over the launch, Al-Jeaid said the new route would promote business and leisure travelers from between Dubai and the Kingdom.
The airline currently operates flights between Jeddah to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah on a daily basis and also five flights per week between Riyadh and Sharjah. It also operates two flights from Madinah to Sharjah twice a week.
