23 December 2014

Saudia to launch smartphone services

Saudia (SV) will launch a bouquet of smartphone services in the first week of January, Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, the director general, announced Thursday. He said the new services would work on iPhones running the iOS7 operating system or later versions. Al-Jasser said the new services would enable the national flag carrier to cope with the latest developments in the aviation industry.

“Passengers will be able to make reservations, purchase tickets, pay through Sadad, issue boarding passes, select seats on Saudia flights and keep the boarding pass in the PassBook using the new system. It will also provide information about flights and preserve passenger information,” Al-Jasser explained. He said the new service would help passengers save a lot of time and energy and enable them complete most of their travel procedures without visiting a travel agent or a sales office. The new service is available in both Arabic and English and passengers will be able to use Hijri dates for reservations. Al-Jasser said the service would be available for domestic flights in the first phase while passengers traveling on the airline’s international flights would be able to avail themselves of the service in the next stage. It will also be linked with the airline’s Alfursan frequent travelers program while passengers are given options to purchase tickets using different currencies. “We’ll also make this service available on Android system in the near future,” the director general said while disclosing plans to further develop the airline’s website as well as smartphone applications to accommodate the latest technological developments and strengthen Saudia’s competitive position.