Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – Marking an important milestone in its local planned growth strategy, Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has announced its new VIP service called "Al Bayraq" connecting Jeddah to Riyadh and operating 12 flights a day in cooperation with Saudi Private Aviation. The announcement was made on Monday at Saudi Private Aviation by Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Director General of Saudia, with the attendance of Faisal Ghazi Kayal, Managing Director, Saudia Private Aviation, top executives of Saudi Airlines and media representatives. He announced that the new service " Albayraq" will start officially med-February heading from Jeddah to Riyadh and back forth. In his speech, Al-Jasser pointed out that the Albayraq service is being launched after extensive study of the market and its needs. " We have been steadily growing our presence and services in Saudi Arabia which reached to around 70% of our operation, Albayarq will bring additional flexibility for business passengers connecting from Jeddah to Riyadh," he added. "From Jeddah to Riyadh, our passengers will now be able to travel seamlessly through Airbus 319 to Jeddah and Riyadh in a convenience and luxury service," he noted. On choosing the brand of Albayraq, Al-Jasser said "we had so many choices to select as a brand of our new service, but we could not find better than "Al Bayraq" which represents Saudi Arabia. Commenting on the expansion plan of Saudi Airlines, Al-Jasser said "due to the growth number of our population, our strategic plan calls for new expansions to reach around 200 aircraft by 2020. We will continue to expand to serve the local market." Meanwhile, Faisal Kayal, Managing Director, Saudia Private Aviation, told Saudi Gazette that the new service "Albayraq" comes as part of Saudi Arabian Airlines strategic objective of transportation project 2020. He said "it is a business bridge from Jeddah to Riyadh and vice versa. Twelve flights daily starting at 6:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. So we will have one flight every three hours. Passengers will have a very luxury service and Saudi Private Aviation airport will be the operating area for Albayraq." He added that Albayraq service is a developed strategic business unit which has been created to serve VIPs, businessmen and corporate/banking leaders whose business requires them to travel frequently between Riyadh and Jeddah. It has been designed to meet the needs of such travelers who are looking for a high-quality service that best utilizes their travel time and provides them with a pleasant atmosphere, while satisfying their own personal requirements which cannot be met by commercial airline services. Albayraq passengers will be able to utilize luxurious private aviation lounges in all Saudi Private Aviation stations in Jeddah and Riyadh. In addition, Albayraq passengers will be able to arrive at the terminal within a very short time prior to the flight. Kayal said a new website for Albayraq passenger has been established to serve them which is www.Saudia.com.
