Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Second Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, inaugurated here tonight Prince Sultan Academy for Aviation Sciences. Upon arrival at the venue, Prince Sultan, who is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Airlines, was received by Prince Fahd bin Abdullah bin Mohammed, Assistant Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General for Aviation Affairs; Prince Mishaal bin Majed bin Abdulaziz, the Governor of Jeddah Province; and Dr. Khalid bin Bakr, the Director General of SAUDIA. In a key address, bin Bakr announced that the Saudi national carrier has transported more than 14 million passengers in 2002 and 2003. Next week SAUDIA will break the 15 million passengers record, the highest in the company's history, he said, adding that during last Hajj season, the SAUDIA fleet transported more than 900,000 pilgrims and is expected to lift this year 1,040,000 passengers from 86 international stations, an increase of 140,000 and 120 percent of the number that has been airlifted in 1418 H. He said the company has increased its revenues during the first nine months of this year, the highest in its history and an increase of 13 percent of last year. Dr. Bakr highlighted the new high-tech services recently provided by the company, including round-the-clock reservation automatic service through the internet and in different airports. The rate of Saudization reached about 94 percent, higher than the targeted plan, he said, adding that the world's best maintenance systems were introduced by SAUDIA. --More 2152 Local Time 1852 GMT
