Al Khayala launches first private Saudi air service

The Saudi Arabian government has granted permission to Al Khayala airlines to operate the country's first domestic private airline.

The airline, owned by the Kingdom's National Air Services (NAS), will operate daily services between Riyadh and Jeddah. The first flight will take off tomorrow.

The launch marks a new chapter in the history of the Kingdom's aviation industry which has only seen the monopoly of the government-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines.

It makes Al Khayala the second private carrier in the GCC following the launch of Kuwait's Al Jazeera Airways.

Dr Khalil Kurdi, NAS chairman, told reporters that Al Khayala will operate four daily flights between Riyadh and Jeddah Saturday through Wednesday in addition to chartered flights on weekends and holidays to various tourist destinations in the region.

The airline plans to operate 30,000 flights between Riyadh and Jeddah over a period of two years.

Mohammad Al Zeer, chief executive of NAS, said the airline will take special care of its passengers at its VIP lounges. The company has 400 staff on its payroll, 90 per cent of whom are Saudi nationals.

Al Zeer said within a year and a half Al Khayala will cover all Saudi as well as Gulf airports.

He added that the airline will operate Airbus A319 aircraft but has installed only 144 seats to ensure enough personal space for each passenger, though the planes are capable of being configured with up to 170 seats.

NAS was established in 1999 and has since been providing a growing range of services to the private aviation sector.

Currently, it has a fleet of 27 aircraft of various types including Airbus, Boeing, Gulfstream, Dassault and Raytheon models and even Twin Otter aircraft employed in medical evacuation serving gas companies operating in the Empty Quarter.