Saudi Arabia’s flag carrier, Saudia, has confirmed that it will begin flying a second route to Switzerland in August, with twice-weekly direct flights from Riyadh to Zurich. The airline will also start operating twice-weekly direct flights from Jeddah to Barcelona in July.
It comes following an agreement signed between Saudia and the National Air Connectivity Program in which direct flights will be operated between Saudi Arabia and four new international destinations this year providing more than 60,000 seats annually.
Captain Ibrahim Koshy, CEO of Saudia Air Transport Company, said, “This agreement coincides with one of the most prominent goals of Saudia, which is bringing the world to the kingdom by expanding operations to new international destinations and making sure that we are providing more flights and seat capacity for our current network, which recently exceeded 100 destinations after launching a number of new destinations in the past months.
In addition to Zurich and Barcelona, Saudia is also adding 10 new routes to the network this year, which includes recently launched cities: Amsterdam (Netherlands), Entebbe (Uganda), and Bangkok (Thailand), Marrakech (Morocco), Malaga (Spain), Moscow (Russia), Beijing (China), the Greek island of Mykonos, Seoul (South Korea), and Chicago (US).
Khalil Lamrabet, CEO of the National Air Connectivity Program, added, “These new non-stop routes will positively affect tourism traffic from Spain and Switzerland by providing a more convenient option to travel and experience Saudi Tourism. We are confident that this partnership will provide a promising platform for additional Air Connectivity growth in support of the kingdom’s tourism sector.”
Saudia recently unveiled its new in-flight entertainment (IFE) system, Beyond. The new IFE system includes over 5,000 hours of HD content, including films, tv shows, a library of e-books, weather reports, shopping, meal ordering, flight information and agenda timeline.
