Saudi Arabian Airlines carried 17.7m passengers last year

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's national carrier flew about 17.7 million passengers on its domestic and international flights last year, said Khalid Al Molhem, director-general of the airline.

"These included 9.9 million domestic passengers and 7.8 million international passengers.

Saudi Arabian Airlines operated a total of 139,640 flights on both the sectors during the period, an increase of 1,543 flights compared with the same period in the previous year," he said.

In his address to senior executives, Molhem said the airline operated 88,033 domestic flights in addition to 17,124 additional and special flights on various sectors.

The airline's on-time performance was 88.29 per cent during the year against 83.71 per cent the previous year.

Al Molhem said the airline carried a record more than 6 million passengers on board 44,161 domestic and international flights during the summer season.

Despite heavy air traffic as well as rush at the airports and a busy schedule during the season, the airline was able to such a high on-time performance, he said.

The meeting reviewed the operational performance of the airline and discussed ways to improve its performance further.

Meanwhile, the airline yesterday started operating 101 more domestic flights and 30 international flights as part of its 11-day "Spring Vacation" promotion.

The promotion endorsed by Al Molhem aims at meeting the growing demand for seats by holidaymakers, said Abdullah Bin Mushabab, Assistant Director General for Public Relations.

He said the plan covers Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Jizan, Abha and Qassim besides international destinations like Kuwait, Cairo, Alexandria and Beirut.

The additional flights would offer 24,396 seats on domestic flights and 8,936 seats on international flights.

Bin Mushabab said in drawing up its operational plan, the airline not only eyes financial returns, but also passenger demand during the vacation season.

The demand for seats, he said, increases during the half-term school break as many families exchange visits and also perform Umrah and visit the Prophet's Mosque.

The plan, he said, also aims at promoting domestic tourism.