Saudi Arabian Airlines will fly more domestic and international flights under a plan set for implementation in November to restructure its flight network. The plan's objective is to increase direct flights between Jeddah and Riyadh, increase domestic flights throughout the country and reduce the waiting time between flights, the airline said. Engineer Khaled Al-Molhem, Saudia Director General, said the plan's first stage, initiated in early 2010, increased flights between Jeddah and Riyadh and to international destinations, most notably those in Europe. He said that in 2010, Saudia has flown 168,300 people between Saudi Arabia and Europe, a 20-percent increase from 2009. The second stage of the plan includes changes in Saudia's flights between the Kingdom's main airports, Al-Molhem said. Daily flights between Riyadh and Dammam will be increased from five to seven and the time between flights will be reduced to two-and-a-half hours. There will be eight daily flights between Jeddah and Dammam and the gap between flights will be reduced to two hours. He said the second stage also includes a significant increase in flights from Abha to the main airports, from 103 weekly flights to 124. The flights will include 48 weekly trips from Jeddah, an increase from 41. Weekly flights connecting Riyadh and Abha will be increased from 50 to 55; there will be 11 weekly flights from Dammam to Abha, up from seven; and flights from Tabuk to Jeddah and Riyadh will be boosted from 68 flights to 75. Saudia's presence in the Middle East and Gulf will be beefed up with an increase from 11 to 17 weekly flights to Beirut; 14 flights to Bahrain, up from nine; 10 flights to Doha, up from six; and an increase in flights to Sana'a from three to five. Al-Molhem said the plan also includes replacing Boeing 747 aircraft with the wide-bodied 777 and that flight increases coincide with the arrival of the new planes.
