Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — The Saudi Arabian Airlines has made extra arrangements to cope with the rush of Umrah pilgrims in both the international and domestic sectors. The national carrier started operating additional flights with an increase in the number of flight seats by 3,058 between Jeddah and Al-Qassim during the peak Umrah season from June 21 to July 13, according to Ibrahim Al-Qabi, director of Saudia in Al-Qassim. The airline is operating 16 weekly flights in this sector. Al-Qabi said that Saudia is operating a total of 50 services from Al-Qassim to Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah in addition to six flights to Dubai in a week. There has been an increase of 19 percent in the number of passengers, totaling 78,618, during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, he added.
