The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has adopted the summer schedule for all international flights to and from Al-Ahsa regional airport at an average rate of 76 roundtrip flights a week. The intended destinations are Dubai, Cairo, Doha and Sharjah. The summer schedule which starts on March 23, 2016 and end on October 29, 2016 will operate 14 weekly flights to each of Dubai and Sharjah, and another 22 weekly flight to Doha, as well as 20 weekly flight to Cairo and two flights to Sohaj. This is in addition to four weekly flights to Istanbul from July 10 to August 21, 2016 and thus the total number of international flights reached 56 from the previously operated flights of 20. GACA has completed all the necessary preparations needed from presence of immigration and customs officials to the complete readiness of both arrival and departure lounges for international flights at the airport. Al-Ahsa regional airport is among the Saudi airports which began operating international flights, in line with GACA directive in operating international flights from regional airports. Ten regional airports are now providing direct flight services to each of the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, QatarEgypt, Yemen and Turkey. This has contributed in achieving a clear growth in passenger traffic and in the number of flights operating from domestic airports. All in an effort to improve the quality of services provided to the flying public throughout the Kingdom's airport, and save them the time and effort while traveling to neighboring countries. — SG
