Award-winning Qatar Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines, one of the largest global airlines, has signed a bilateral code-share agreement that will link two of the region's largest airline networks. This is the first code-share agreement for Qatar Airways with a Gulf carrier. Saudi Arabian Airlines has signed several agreements with other regional carriers such as Kuwait Airlines and Gulf Air. Under the new bilateral code-share agreement, which will be effective from Feb. 1, 2006, passengers traveling between Doha and Dammam on Saudi Arabian Airlines will be able to enjoy the "five stars" services of Qatar Airways which is to be one of the four airlines in the world ranked as a "Five-Star" carrier by Skytrax, the independent aviation industry-monitoring agency. Simply put, a code-share agreement is an arrangement whereby an airline sells seats, under its own name, on another carrier's flight. Code-sharing between two airlines allows an airline to put its two-letter identification code on the flights of another airline as they appear in computerized reservations systems and in the Official Airline Guide. The code-share agreement was signed between Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker and Dr. Ayed Al-Amri, general manager, Commercial Agreements and Hajj Affairs of Saudi Arabian Airlines. --MORE 10 05 Local Time 07 05 GMT
