Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, announced on Tuesday that effective Sept. 16, it will fly daily to Riyadh and Jeddah from the carrier's primary hub in Sharjah, UAE. Currently, Air Arabia flies six times a week to Riyadh and four times to Jeddah. Under the expanded flight schedule, daily flights will depart Sharjah at 17:20 P.M. and arrive in Riyadh at 18:00 P.M. Daily return flights will depart Riyadh at 18:40 P.M. and arrive in Sharjah at 21:20 P.M. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays flights will depart Sharjah at 8:30 A.M. and arrive in Jeddah at 10:00AM. On the same days, return flights will depart Jeddah at 11:00 A.M. and arrive in Sharjah at 14:40 P.M. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays flights will depart Sharjah at 13:05 P.M. and arrive in Jeddah at 14:50 P.M. On the same days, return flights will depart Jeddah at 15:35 P.M. and arrive in Sharjah at 19:15 P.M. The first six months of 2008 saw an extremely impressive average load factor of 89 and 87 percent for the Riyadh and Jeddah routes respectively, demonstrating the carrier's status as the LCC of choice for travelers to the Kingdom. “The popularity of Air Arabia's service to Riyadh and Jeddah, the political and commercial capitals of Saudi Arabia, is reflective of Saudi Arabia's rapid economic growth,” said AK Nizar, head of Commercial Department, Air Arabia. Air Arabia started flying to Jeddah and Riyadh in June 2004. The airline currently serves the Saudi markets with flights to three destinations: Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam, and offers popular connectivity from the Kingdom to 11 destinations in India via its Sharjah hub. The Sharjah-based carrier introduced four new destinations in the first six months of this year, including Kozhikode and New Delhi, India; Shiraz, Iran; and Dhaka, Bangladesh. This increases Air Arabia's total network to 41 destinations across the wider region. __
