Eleven new Airbus aircraft ordered by Saudi Arabian Airlines as part of a new fleet are scheduled to arrive in the Kingdom in September. The airline will receive the entire fleet over four years, according to Abdullah Al-Ajhar, the Saudia Assistant Director General of Public Relations. Al-Ajhar said the airline had signed an infrastructure contract worth over SR700 million, and that developments would see the installation of smart machines to speed up the processing of information plus an expansion of self-service machines in public locations and a further 12 at every airport. Work is also being carried out on passenger cabins in Boeing 777 aircraft to improve seating comfort, culinary services, facilities for persons with special needs, and entertainment options. Al-Ajhar also noted that online reservations in 2008 increased by 34 percent over the previous year, recording some 2.3 million bookings. Ticket sales in the same period increased by 140 percent, with customers availing themselves of self-service facilities numbering 2.33 million, an increase of 36 percent on 2007. The total number of boarding passes issued since the introduction of electronic self-service in 2007 was about 9 million, according to Al
