JEDDAH — Saudi Arabian Airlines will allow full passenger seating capacity on domestic flights as of September after obtaining the approval of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), the airline said in a statement on Thursday. The airline will increase seating capacity for domestic flights by 52%. Domestic flights have a weekly seating capacity of more than 245,000 given the social distancing guidelines. It will rise to more than 372,000 after the new procedure comes into force. The airline indicated that a qualified team would monitor the flights, as well as the seating capacity as per the operating requirements. On Wednesday, Saudi Arabian Airlines announced that it would allow only those passengers who have received two doses of coronavirus vaccine to travel on board its domestic flights effective from Sept. 1. Earlier, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) confirmed that it is exploring the prospect of allowing the use of full passenger seating capacity on board of domestic flights. This is in coordination with the Ministry of Health and in response to the request made by some national air carriers. The GACA stated that the return to using the normal seating capacity before the outbreak of COVID-19 would be based on certain conditions. These include immunization of all passengers with two doses of vaccine. However, there will be exemption from this for groups that are not obligated to take the vaccine such as children under the age of 12 years or those who have been given exemption by the competent Saudi health authorities from taking vaccine on medical grounds. The authority stressed the importance of continuing to comply with wearing masks, washing of hands, and applying all preventive measures as per the domestic and international aviation protocols issued by the Saudi Public Health Authority (Weqaya).
