JEDDAH – Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) celebrates the golden jubilee of its operation to Dubai today (Feb. 19). A ceremony will be held at Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort to mark the occasion under the patronage of Prince Fahd Bin Abdullah, President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation and Chairman of Saudia. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, President of Civil Aviation in Dubai and Chairman of Emirates Airlines; Eng. Khaled Al-Molhem, Director General of Saudia; and senior Saudia executives as well as industry experts will attend the event. A variety of programs has been lined up for the ceremony, including a speech by Eng. Al-Molhem, the screening of a documentary film on the airline's history and achievements, and an exhibition highlighting Saudia's development, services at sales offices, electronic and self-services, and progress of Dubai services during the past 50 years. Prince Fahd Bin Abdullah will open Saudia's new office in Dubai, which was designed to cope with the airline's marvelous development in services. The new office is located in Vision Tower, which overlooks Burj Khalifa, Dubai Governorate and Sheikh Zayed Street. Its design reflects Saudia's new identity and image. The new Dubai office houses the office of the general manager for Middle East and Gulf, administrative offices, training halls, finance department, sales and marketing departments and prayer hall that provide a suitable atmosphere for extending services. The Kingdom's national flag carrier launched its first flight to Dubai from Dhahran in March 1963, carrying just 48 passengers. It opened a new era in its international operations as the number of Saudia flights to Dubai increased to 74 weekly. These flights are operated from the Kingdom's major cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah. Total number of passengers carried by Saudia annually between the two countries rose to more than 500,000. – SG
