JEDDAH: Starting March 1, Saudi Arabian Airlines will increase flights connecting Jeddah and Dammam from four to eight flights in each direction, with a reduced time interval of two-and-a-half hours between flights. The airline is striving to restructure its domestic flights and increase their numbers to meet the increasing demand for travel between different regions of the Kingdom, which it said will be achieved through the optimized use of its growing fleet. Saudia has received 41 new Airbus 320, 321 and 330 planes, part of the 88 new Airbus and Boeing planes it has ordered. Late last year, the airline started implementing its plan for restructuring flights between Riyadh and Dammam, increasing the number of flights between the cities to seven per day as of Nov. 1 and reducing the time between flights to two-and-a-half hours. The plan to restructure domestic flights coincided with restructuring the computerized reservation system, which includes increasing operating hours at the unified booking center to 16 hours daily and increasing the number of telephone lines from 390 to 1140, the airline said. The additions have led to serving all calls through the center's reservation employees or through the self-serve system. The plan included converting the booking center into a source of sales through the telephone center, via the Sadad payment system; automated teller machines; and banking by phone. Implementing the plan also coincided with the development of Saudia Internet services that include a complete package of self-serve booking, ticket purchase, seat selection, issuance of boarding passes and interactive communication services through mobile telephones, the airline said. Customers can use the system to check their reservation status, confirm and cancel reservations and access other services. Eng. Khalid Bin Abdullah Al-Mulhim, Director General of Saudi Arabian Airlines, is scheduled to launch its annual sales conference in Jeddah Sunday, in the presence of a number of its high-level officials and managers, with a number of prominent international speakers and lecturers from the air-transport industry.
