Saudi Arabian Airlines will launch two new wide-bodied Boeing 777-300 ER passenger planes here today. The planes will be officially launched by Prince Fahd Bin Abdullah Bin Muhammad, President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). A further 18 of the same model planes have been ordered from Boeing by Saudia. Abdullah Bin Masheb Al-Ajhar, Saudia's Assistant Director General for Public Relations, said this model is the best on the market in terms of seat capacity and modification flexibility. It can also fly non-stop for more than 16 hours. He said the two planes will be added to the Saudia fleet when the national airline processes the necessary documents, including the GACA commercial licenses. The addition of the two new planes will see Saudia have a working fleet of 52 planes. This includes 50 Airbus 320, 321 and 330 models of different sizes, he said. Saudia chooses its planes based on specific criteria, said Al-Ajhar. This includes seat capacity, flying range and various facilities for passengers. Each of the new planes will have two groups of seating arrangements. The first group includes 30 business class seats and 383 economy class seats. The second group has three classes, which includes 24 first class seats, 36 business class seats and 245 economy seats. Khaled Bin Abdullah Almolhem, Saudia's Director General, will attend the launch ceremony.
