His Highness Prince Muhammad Bin Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz, the ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in United Kingdom, visited Saudi Arabian Airlines Pavilion in the World Travel Market (WTM), the leading global event for the travel industry, which held on Monday, November 6, 2017, in the British capital, London. His Highness the Prince received and welcomed by Eng. Abdulrahman GH. Al Tayeb, VP Corporate Communication in SAUDIA, who accompanied the prince in a tour to showcase SAUDIA’s latest developments in air travel in the pavilion which reflect the airline’s commitment to be the best.
Empowered by the cutting-edge technologies and innovative products, the visitors of SUADIA’s pavilion tasted the fantastic travel experience offered by first-class suites of SAUDIA’s B777-300ER, and the cosy feeling of its premium business class seats. They were encouraged to delve into SAUDIA’s world of luxurious services, know more about it’s the irresistible offers of SAUDIA Holidays, the unique services of Al Fursan lounges, the unrivalled experience of its IFE system, and its network, which is further expanded by adding 5 new destinations this year: Multan, Port Sudan, Mauritius, Trivandrum, and Baghdad. As a member of Skyteam alliance, SAUDIA offers its guests access to 1062 destinations in 177 countries around the world.
During 2017, SAUDIA scored a resounding success by winning a number of globally prestigious awards, include: ‘Most Improved Airline’ at the Skytrax 2017 World Airline Awards ceremony on June 20th, which took place at the Musee de l’Air et de l’Espace at Le Bourget airport in Paris, France, ‘the best Airlines in the Middle East for wireless entertainment system’ on the margins of the Middle East Exhibition for Cabin Maintenance 2017 which was held on Dubai, ‘Outstanding Onboard Catering – Middle East’ by Pax International for the second consecutive year, at the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg, Germany, and ‘Airline of the Year – Highly Commended’ award at the Aviation Business 2017 Awards Gala, which took place at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Dubai, in addition to two golden awards for its female Furla and male Porsche-designed amenity kits. Furthermore, Saudi Airlines Cargo Company received the Best International Airline in Africa Award.
The airline currently operates a fleet of 142 aircraft. Last year, SAUDIA has taken the delivery of 28 aircraft, include: B777-300ER, B787-9 Dreamliner, A330-300R, and A320. Moreover, in 2017 the airline receives 29 of a total of 32 aircraft to be delivered by the end of the year. This is the largest number of aircraft received by SAUDIA in a single year, which in turn will help it to achieve its strategic goal and operate one of the youngest fleet in the sky with an average age of only 3.75 years, and to enhance its capacity.
The airline has enjoyed the busiest months in the airline’s history (the third quarter of 2017) with more than 8.86M guests flying onboard 54.5K flights crisscrossing its highly expanding network, up 14 per cent compared to the same period last year. For the first time in AUDIA’s history, the number of guests traveling on international routes exceeds those who are travelling on domestic ones. Moreover, the airline’s total guests’ numbers increases to 3.12M in August this year, 16 per cent higher than the same period in 2016 (up +1K guests daily).