Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Premier, Defense and Aviation Minister, and Inspector General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Airlines (SAUDIA) tonight patronized the dedication ceremony of its first of its new generation of Emperor 170 aircraft as well as SAUDIA's party to mark the Saudi national carrier's 60 years anniversary. He was received at the venue by Prince Mishaal bin Majed bin Abdulaziz, the Governor of Jeddah Province, Dr. Khalid bin Bakr, Director General of SAUDIA, and a number of officials. Addressing the gathering, Dr. Bakr said the new small-size aero planes were designed to boost the operational system of the company through providing services for rural towns, particularly in the north and south of the Kingdom. According to the purchase contract, SAUDIA will have the Middle East's largest airplane maintenance center, he said. Bakr said the company was able to achieve its highest levels of performance since its establishment, citing the lifting of one million passengers annually and more that one million pilgrims from 86 international stations in addition to different points in the Kingdom, and the lift of about two million Umrah performers from all over the world. SAUDIA scored its first highest revenue worth more than SR14.6 billion and started to hit its first profit in history since 2002, he said, adding that for the first time in its history SAUDIA was able to self-finance its new planes purchase deal. --More 23 01 Local Time 20 01 GMT
