Saudi Arabian Airlines is to increase its number of flights to Beirut for the coming summer season with five flights to be added to the scheduled ten. Seven weekly flights will depart from Jeddah, six from Riyadh and two from Dammam. According to Abdullah Al-Ajhar, SAA Assistant General Manager for public relations, five more flights are going to be added to the current ten flights to the Lebanese capital. A group of Saudi travel agents has recently come back from Lebanon after a tour aimed at seeing tourism sites and to strengthen cooperation with their Lebanese counterparts. Al-Ajhar pointed out that the tour aimed to keep in touch with their partnering agency inside and outside the Kingdom. “We have important mutual interests with these travel agencies. In fact they are our success partners,” he said. He added that such tours enable travel agents in both countries to meet and discuss ways of cooperation and partnership in organizing tourism visits to Lebanon and visits to the holy places. “During the last five years, from 204 to 2008, we have transported some 34,000 pilgrims from Lebanon to the Kingdom,” he disclosed. The assistant director said that the Saudia fleet of planes had transported some 45,000, on board 582 flights, from Lebanon to different local airports in 2008. Moreover, Sami Rasheed, manager of Saudia station in Beirut said that SAA has transported nearly 250,000 passengers from Beirut to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, during the last five years. Rasheed anticipated that the current year would witness a leap in Saudia achievements. “SAA has transported some 14,894 travelers during the first quarter of 2009, with an increase of 47 percent of the target. On the other hand, 532 tons were shipped, with a 16 percent increase.” Rasheed said. Saudia began its flights to Lebanon in 1948. Sixteen years later, its office was opened in Beirut. Soon afterwards, flights from the Lebanese capital started operating to Riyadh, Jeddah, Madina and Dammam.
