Saudi Arabian Airlines

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saudi Arabian Airlines

IATA SV	ICAO SVA	Callsign SAUDIA
Founded		1945
Hubs		Jeddah-King Abdulaziz International Airport Riyadh-King Khalid International Airport Dammam-King Fahd International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Alfursan
Fleet size		132
Destinations		76
Parent company		N/A (government-owned corporation)
Headquarters		Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Key people		HRH Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz (CEO). Khalid Abdullah Almolhem has replaced Khalid bin Bakr as Director General
Website: http://www.saudiairlines.com

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Arabic: الخطوط الجوية العربية السعودية) is the national airline of Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah. It operates domestic and international scheduled flights to over 70 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Domestic and international charter flights are operated as required, mostly during Ramadan and the Hajj season. The airline's main operational base is at Jeddah-King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED). Other major hubs are Riyadh-King Khalid International Airport (RUH), and Dammam-King Fahad International Airport (DMM). The new Dammam airport was opened for commercial use on 28 November 1999. Dhahran International Airport in use until then, has reverted back to being used as a military base. Saudi Arabian Airlines is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization.

1 History
2 Destinations
3 Fleet
4 Incidents and accidents
5 Other facts of interest
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

When US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented a Douglas DC-3 as a gift to King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud in 1945, the event was seen as opening the door to the Saudi Kingdom's civil aviation development. Saudi Arabian Airlines was founded in September 1946 as a fully owned government agency under the control of the Ministry of Defense, with TWA involved with the running of the airline under a management contract. From the beginning, Jeddah-Kandara airport - very near the town centre - served as the flag carrier's main base. Among the new airline's early operations was a special flight from Lydda in Palestine, a British Mandate at that time, to carry Hajj pilgrims to Jeddah. The airline used a fleet of five DC-3 aircraft to launch scheduled operations on the Jeddah-Riyadh-Hofuf-Dhahran route in March 1947, followed by its first international service between Jeddah and Cairo in the same month. Service to Damascus and Beirut followed in early 1948. In 1949, the first of five Bristol 170s was received. These aircraft offered the airline the flexibility of carrying both passengers and cargo on selected flights as required.

The slow but steady growth continued during the 1950s and services were inaugurated to Istanbul, Karachi, Amman, Kuwait City, Asmara, and Port Sudan. The fleet also saw a small growth during the 1950s, with five DC-4s and ten Convair 340s, the first pressurized aircraft for the airline. In 1959, the airline's first maintenance center was inaugurated in Jeddah. Also during this decade, the very important air link between Jeddah and Riyadh saw notable service improvement.

Saudi Arabian Airline's Main building in Jeddah

In 1962, the airline took delivery of two Boeing 720s, making history by becoming the first Middle Eastern airline to fly jets. On 19 February 1963, the airline became a registered company, with King Faisal of Saudi Arabia signing the papers that declared Saudi Arabian a fully independent company. DC-6s and Boeing 707s were later bought, and the airline joined AACO, the Arab Air Carriers Organization. Services were started to Sharjah, Tehran, Khartoum, Bombay, Tripoli, Tunis, Rabat, Geneva, Frankfurt, and London.

In the 1970s, a new livery was introduced, and the carrier's name was changed to Saudia on 1 April 1972. Boeing 737 and Boeing 747 equipment was bought, with the 737s replacing the Douglas DC-9. The first all-cargo flights between Saudi Arabia and Europe were started, and Lockheed L-1011s and Fairchild FH-27s were introduced. New services, including the Arabian Express 'no reservation shuttle flights' between Jeddah and Riyadh. The Special Flight Services (SFS) was set up as a special unit of Saudia, and still enjoys its role as operating special flights for the Royal family and government agencies. Service was also started to Rome, Paris, Muscat, Kano, and Stockholm. The Pan Am / Saudia joint service between Dhahran and New York City started on 3 February 1979.

Some new non-route-related services opened during the 1980s for the airline, such as Saudia Catering. Flights were started to Athens, Bangkok, Dhaka, Mogadishu, Nairobi, New York City (Saudi Arabian's flights to New York are the only flights in the world that overfly 4 continents: it begins in Asia, passing over Africa and Europe, before landing in North America), Madrid, Singapore, Manila, New Delhi, Islamabad, Seoul, Baghdad, Amsterdam, Colombo, Nice, Lahore, Brussels, Dakar, Kuala Lumpur and Taipei. Horizon Class, a business class service, was established between Jeddah and Cairo, and cargo hubs were built at Brussels and Taipei. Airbus A300s, Fokker F-28s, and Cessna Citations were also added to the fleet, the Citations for the SFS service. To finish the decade, services were introduced in 1989 to Larnaca and Addis Ababa.

Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 777 approaching London Heathrow

In the 1990s services were introduced to Orlando, Chennai, Tokyo, Asmara, Washington, D.C., Johannesburg, Alexandria, Milan, Málaga, and Sanaa. Boeing 777s, McDonnell Douglas MD-90s and MD-11s were introduced, smoking was banned on certain flights to Muslim countries as well as on all domestic flights and new stewardess uniforms designed by Adnan Akbar were introduced. A new corporate identity was launched on 16 July 1996, featuring an elegant sand coloured fuselage with contrasting dark blue tailfin, the centre of which featured a stylised representation of the House of Saud crest. The Saudia name was dropped in the identity revamp, and Saudi Arabian Airlines was resurrected.

On 8 October 2000, Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the Saudi Minister of Defence & Aviation, signed a contract to conduct studies for the privatisation of Saudi Arabian Airlines. In preparation for privatisation, the airline is currently restructuring to allow non-core units including catering, ground handling services and maintenance as well as the Prince Sultan Flight Academy in Jeddah, to transform into commercial units and profit centres. In April 2005, the Saudi government indicated that the airline may also lose its monopoly on domestic services.^[1]

Saudi Arabian Airlines did achieve operational profits in 2002, which doubled in 2003 but the profits are primarily due to over one billion riyal on deferred income amortised annually in the income statement courtesy of the 70 aircraft gifted to the airline by the Government. In 2004 the airline carried over 15 million passengers and recorded a 14% rise in profits.

The airline ordered 15 Embraer 170 aircraft in a deal worth $400 million in April 2005. They are to be based at Abha in the south and at Hail in the north.

[edit] Destinations

See Saudi Arabian Airlines destinations

[edit] Fleet

The Saudi Arabian Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (at August 2006):^[2]

11 Airbus A300-600
7 Boeing 737-200
7 Boeing 747-100B
1 Boeing 747-200F (1 more on wet lease from Atlas Air)
9 Boeing 747-300 (incl. 1 government use) - more added on wet lease from Air Atlanta Icelandic
5 Boeing 747-400 (incl. 1 transferred to government)
1 Boeing 747SP
23 Boeing 777-200ER
8 Embraer 170 LR (plus 7 on order)
4 McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (cargo)
29 McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30
1 De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 300 (government use)

Other aircraft:^{[citation needed]}

4 Gulfstream II (incl. 3 government use)
3 Gulfstream III (government use)
6 Gulfstream IV (government use)
2 Dassault Falcon 900 (government use)
3 Beechcraft Bonanza (training)
8 Piper Archer II (training)

A number of military C-130s are painted with the Saudi colors and are flown by Royal Saudi Air Force crews to support Saudi official activities in the region and Europe.

The average age of the fleet is 12.8 years as of February 2007, with some of the current aircraft being more than 30 years old.^[3]

[edit] Incidents and accidents

[edit] Other facts of interest

In the middle 1990s, a DC-3 that used to fly for Saudi Arabian was re-decorated in the airline's early livery and flown back to Saudi Arabia.
The DC-3 that was delivered to Saudi Arabia's king in the 1940s is still kept, but not flown, by the airline. It sits on the runway by Saudi Arabian's terminal at Jeddah International Airport.
From 1978 to 1983 Saudia was the title sponsor of the Williams Formula One team, with the airline's colours appearing on the championship winning cars of Alan Jones (1980) and Keke Rosberg (1982).
The Tehran route was a seasonal service before 2005 when Saudi Arabian Airlines and Iran Air decided that there where too many passengers coming in and out of Iran and Saudi Arabia. Saudi was asked to install a permanent service to Tehran.
Saudi Arabian Airlines, along with Iran Air, are the only operators of the Boeing 747-100B