Saudi Arabian Airlines has said that it has flown 10 million passengers on 73,544 flights in the first 6 months of 2011, a 14 percent increase in flights and a 7 percent increase in passengers compared to the same period last year, Asharq Al-Awsat reported. Khalid Al-Mulhim, Director General of Saudia, said, “Domestic flights hit 57 percent of total flights during this period, in addition to 65 percent of total flights operated during the first six months of this year. This proves that Saudia has dedicated itself fully to meeting the increasing demand on domestic flights in the Kingdom by providing 2 million additional seats.” With respect to international flights, Khalid Al-Mulhim commented further saying, “During the first six months of this year Saudia flew 3,466,045 passengers compared to 3,113,943 passengers last year for the same period. The increase is 352,102 passengers on board 20,993 flights compared to 18,557 flights during the same period last year. This reflects an increase in the number of flights by 2,436. Flights to Asia were the highest in number, followed by flights to Africa, the Gulf, then other countries.” The Director General added that weather conditions and other factors outside the control of Saudia caused delays in a quarter of all flights. He stated that, despite this, Saudia has improved dramatically in terms of flight schedules during the first six months of the year. Punctuality for domestic flights was 87.61 percent, an increase of 6.05% compared to last year. Delays caused by technical difficulties are due to Saudia's commitment to international safety standards, he added.
