Saudia

Saudia (Arabic: السعودية‎ as-Saʿūdiyyah), legally Saudi Arabian Airlines (الخطوط الجوية العربية السعودية), is the flag carrier airline of Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah.^[2] 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 Fahd 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 to being used as a military base. The airline is the third largest in the Middle East in terms of revenue, behind Emirates and Qatar Airways.^[3] It operates domestic and international scheduled flights to over 120 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Domestic and international charter flights are operated, mostly during the Ramadan and the Hajj season. Saudia is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization. The airline joined the SkyTeam airline alliance on 29 May 2012.

History

Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 707 at London Heathrow Airport in 1969

A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747SP lands at Stuttgart Airport, Germany. (1989)

A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 737-200 at Bahrain International Airport. (1995)

When U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented a Douglas DC-3 as a gift to King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud in 1945, the event marked the Kingdom's gradual development of civil aviation. The nation's flag carrier, Saudia, was founded as Saudi Arabian Airlines in September 1945^[4] as a fully owned government agency under the control of the Ministry of Defense, with TWA running the airline under a management contract.

From the beginning, Jeddah-Kandara airport—very near the town center-served as the flag carrier's main base. Among the airline's early operations was a special flight from Lydda in Palestine (today Lod in Israel, site of Ben-Gurion International Airport), a British Mandate at that time, to carry Hajj pilgrims to Jeddah. The airline used 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 also in that same month. Service to Damascus and Beirut followed in early 1948. The following year saw the first of five Bristol 170s being received. These aircraft offered the airline the flexibility of carrying both passengers and cargo.

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 improvement.

In 1962, the airline took delivery of two Boeing 720s, becoming the third Middle Eastern airline to fly jet aircraft, after Cyprus Airways with the de Havilland Comet in 1960 and El Al with the Boeing 707 in 1961.^[5] On 19 February 1963, the airline became a registered company, with King Faisal of Saudi Arabia signing the papers that declared Saudia a fully independent company. DC-6s and Boeing 707s were later bought, and the airline joined the 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. The carrier's name was changed to Saudia on 1 April 1972. Boeing 737 and Fokker F-28 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 operates 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 services opened during the 1980s for the airline, such as Saudia Catering. Flights were started to Athens, Bangkok, Dhaka, Mogadishu, Nairobi, New York City, Madrid, Singapore, Manila, Delhi, Islamabad, Seoul, Baghdad, Amsterdam, Colombo, Nice, Lahore, Brussels, Dakar, Kuala Lumpur and Taipei. Horizon Class, a business class service, was established to offer enhanced service to passengers. Cargo hubs were built at Brussels and Taipei. Airbus A300s, Boeing 747s, and Cessna Citations were also added to the fleet, the Citations for the SFS service. To conclude the decade, services were introduced in 1989 to Larnaca and Addis Ababa. On July 1, 1982, the first nonstop service was inaugurated from Jeddah to New York with the airline's Boeing 747SP aircraft. This service, along with the Riyadh-New York service introduced later.

In the 1990s, services were introduced to Orlando, Chennai, Asmara, Washington, D.C., Johannesburg, Alexandria, Milan, Málaga (seasonal), and Sanaa (resumption). Boeing 777s, MD-90s and MD-11s were introduced. New female flight attendant uniforms designed by Adnan Akbar were introduced. A new corporate identity was launched on 16 July 1996, featuring a sand colored fuselage with contrasting dark blue tailfin, the center of which featured a stylized representation of the House of Saud crest. The Saudia name was dropped in the identity revamp, with Saudi Arabian Airlines name used.

On 8 October 2000, Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Saudi Minister of Defense and Aviation, signed a contract to conduct studies for the privatization of Saudi Arabian Airlines. In preparation for this, the airline was restructured to allow non-core units—including Saudia catering, ground handling services and maintenance as well as the Prince Sultan Flight Academy in Jeddah—to be transformed into commercial units and profit centers. In April 2005, the Saudi government indicated that the airline may also lose its monopoly on domestic services.^[6]

Saudi Arabian Airlines did achieve operational profits in 2002, which doubled in 2003, but the profits were primarily due to over one billion riyals on deferred income amortised annually in the income statement, courtesy of the 70 aircraft gifted to the airline by the Saudi government. In 2004, the airline carried over 15 million passengers and recorded a 14% rise in profits. In April the following year the airline ordered 15 Embraer E-170LR aircraft in a deal worth $400 million.

In 2006, Saudia began the process of dividing itself into Strategic Business Units (SBU); the catering unit was the first to be privatized.^[7] In August 2007, Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers approved the conversion of strategic units into companies. It is planned that ground services, technical services, air cargo and the Prince Sultan Aviation Academy, medical division, as well as the catering unit, will become subsidiaries of a holding company.^[8]

The airline reverted to its abbreviated English brand name Saudia (used from 1972 to 1996) from Saudi Arabian Airlines (historic name in use until 1971 and reintroduced in 1997) on 29 May 2012; the name was changed to celebrate the company's entry into the SkyTeam airline alliance on that day, and it was a part of a larger rebranding initiative.^[9]

Saudia received 64 new airplanes by the end of 2012, 6 Boeing airplanes and 58 Airbus airplanes. Another 8 Boeing 787-9 aircraft will join the fleet of Saudia in 2015.^[10]

In April 2016, Saudia announced the creation of a low-cost subsidiary, Flyadeal. The airline was launched as part of Saudia Group's SV2020 Transformation Strategy, which intends to transform the group's units into world-class organisations by 2020. Flyadeal will serve domestic and regional destinations, beginning flights in mid-2017.^[11]

Destinations

Main article: Saudia destinations

Countries with destinations of Saudia (including seasonal and future destinations).

Saudi Arabia

Saudia Destinations

Codeshare

Saudia has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of June 2013):

Fleet

Current fleet

Saudia Airbus A320-200

Saudia Airbus A330-300

Saudia Boeing 777-200ER

Saudia Boeing 777-300ER in "Famous Landmarks" special livery

Saudia Cargo Boeing 747-8F

As of February 2016, the Saudia fleet consists of the following aircraft including its passenger, cargo and government fleet:^[12]

**Saudia fleet**
Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers				Notes
Aircraft	In service	Orders	F	J	Y	Total	Notes
Airbus A319-100	2	—	0	0	135	135	Leased from Czech Airlines.
Airbus A320-200	35	30	0	12	120	132	Delivered between 2016 - 2018.
Airbus A320-200	35	30	0	20	96	116	Delivered between 2016 - 2018.
Airbus A321-200	15	—	0	20	145	165
Airbus A330-300	20	20	0	36	262	298	Saudia will be the launch operator of new Airbus A330-300 Regional. Delivered between 2016 - 2018.
Airbus A330-300	20	20	0	36	252	288
Boeing 777-200ER	27	—	24	38	170	232
Boeing 777-200ER	27	—	0	14	327	341
Boeing 777-300ER	20	—	24	53	245	305	HZ-AK28 in Famous Saudi Arabian Landmarks special livery.
Boeing 777-300ER	20	—	0	30	383	413	HZ-AK28 in Famous Saudi Arabian Landmarks special livery.
Boeing 787-9	3	5	0	24	274	294
Embraer ERJ-170	15	—	0	6	60	66
Saudia Cargo
Boeing 747-400BCF	2	—	Cargo				Operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic.^[13]
Boeing 747-400BDSF	4	—	Cargo				Operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic and MyCargo Airlines.^[13]
Boeing 747-400F	2	—	Cargo				Operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic.
Boeing 747-400ERF	2	—	Cargo				Operated by MyCargo Airlines.^[13]
Boeing 747-8F	2	4	Cargo				4 to be operated by Air Atlanta Icelandic
Boeing 777F	4	—	Cargo
Saudia Royal Flight
Airbus A340-200	1	—	VIP
Boeing 747-300	1	—	VIP
Boeing 747-400	1	—	VIP
Boeing 747SP	3	—	VIP
Boeing 757-200	1	—	VIP
Total	161	60

Historic fleet

Saudia Convair 340 in 1959

Saudia Lockheed L-1011 in 1985

Saudia Airbus A300-600R in 2010

Saudia formerly operated the following aircraft:^[14]

**Fleet history**
Aircraft	Total	Introduced	Retired
Airbus A300-600	11	1984	2012
Airbus A310-300F	1	2010	2013
Airbus A319-100	1	2007	2008
Airbus A340-300	4	1999	2014
Boeing 707-320	??	196?	????
Boeing 727-100 (VIP)	1	1976	200?
Boeing 737-200	26	1972	2007
Boeing 747-100	19	1981	2010
Boeing 747-200	33	1979	2012
Boeing 747-200F	??	19??	2012
Boeing 747-300	18	1985	2013
Boeing 747-300SF	1	2014	2015
Boeing 747-400	14	1997	2016
Boeing 747SP	2	1981	1992
Boeing 757-200	10	2008	2011
Boeing 767-200ER	5	2003	2012
Boeing 767-300ER	5	2012	2012
Convair 340	??	19??	19??
Fokker F28	??	1977	19??
Lockheed L1011 Tristar	24	1977	1998
Lockheed L1011 Tristar 500 (VIP)	2	19??	????
McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62/63F/72	37	1977	1998
McDonnell Douglas DC-9	3	1967	1972
McDonnell Douglas DC-10	1	1975	19??
McDonnell Douglas MD-11F	4	1998	2014
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (VIP)	2	1998	2013
McDonnell Douglas MD-90	29	1998	2013

Other aircraft

A Saudi Arabian Airlines Gulfstream IV at Edinburgh Airport, Scotland. (2009)

Saudia Special Flight Services, VIP flights, and Private Aviation operate the following, a number of which sport the airline's livery

6 Beechcraft Bonanza (training)
2 Dassault Falcon 900 (government use)
4 Dassault Falcon 7X (charter)
6 Gulfstream IV (government use)
6 Hawker 400XP (government use)

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

In-flight services

The inflight magazine of Saudia is called Ahlan Wasahlan (Arabic: أهلاً وسهلاً‎ "Hello and Welcome"). No alcoholic beverages or pork are served on board in accordance with Islamic dietary laws. Its Airbus A330-300 fleet and a select Boeing 777-300 aircraft are equipped with Wi-Fi and mobile network portability on board. Some aircraft also offer onboard specialized prayer areas.^[15]

Incidents and accidents

On 25 September 1959, a Saudia Douglas DC-4 HZ-AAF crashed shortly after take-off from Jeddah. The cause of the accident was pilot error followed by a stall. All 67 passengers and 5 crew survived.^[16]
On 9 February 1968, a Douglas C-47 (Registration HZ-AAE) was damaged beyond economic repair at an unknown location.^[17]
On 10 November 1970, a Douglas DC-3 on a flight from Amman Civil Airport, Jordan to King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was hijacked and diverted to Damascus Airport, Syria.^[18]
On 11 July 1972, a Douglas C-47B (Registration HZ-AAK) was damaged beyond economic repair in an accident at Tabuk Airport.^[19]
On 19 August 1980, Saudia Flight 163, a Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar, operating Karachi-Riyadh-Jeddah, was completely destroyed by fire at Riyadh airport with the loss of all 301 people on board due to delays in evacuating the aircraft. This was the deadliest accident experienced by Saudia until 312 were killed in the loss of Flight 763 over 16 years later.
On 22 December 1980, Saudia Flight 162, a Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar, operating Dhahran to Karachi, experienced an explosive decompression, penetrating the passenger cabin. The hole sucked out two passengers and depressurized the cabin.^[20]
On 5 April 1984, a Saudia Lockheed L-1011 TriStar on final approach to Damascus from Jeddah was hijacked by a Syrian national. The hijacker demanded to be taken to Istanbul, Turkey but changed his mind and requested to go to Stockholm, Sweden. After landing in Istanbul to refuel, the pilot pushed the hijacker out the emergency exited, who was arrested.^[21]
On 12 November 1996, a Saudia Boeing 747-100B, operating flight 763, was involved in the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision. The aircraft was on its way from New Delhi, India, to Dahran, Saudi Arabia when a Kazakhstan Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 collided with it over the village of Charkhi Dadri, some miles west of New Delhi. Flight 763 was carrying 312 people, all of whom, along with 37 more on the Kazakh aircraft, died, for a grand total of 349 fatalities. The loss of Flight 763 alone remains Saudia's worst accident in terms of fatalities. The accident overall also remains the world's deadliest mid-air collision and the third-deadliest aviation disaster in history, as well as the deadliest one with no survivors.
On 14, October 2000, Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 115,^[22] flying from Jeddah to London was hijacked en route by two men who claimed they were armed with explosives. The hijackers commandeered the Boeing 777-200 to Baghdad, Iraq, where all 90 passengers and 15 crew members were safely released. The two hijackers, identified as Lieutenant Faisal Naji Hamoud Al-Bilawi and First Lieutenant Ayesh Ali Hussein Al-Fareedi,^[23] both Saudi citizens, were arrested and later extradited to Saudi Arabia in 2003.^[24]^[25]
On 23 August 2001, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia,a Boeing 747-300 (Registration HZ-AIO) suffered nose damage as it entered a monsoon drainage ditch while it was being taxied by Maintenance staff from the hangar to the gate before a return flight to Saudi Arabia. None of the six crew members on board at the time were injured.^[26]
On 8 September 2005, a Boeing 747 traveling from Colombo to Jeddah, carrying mostly Sri Lankan nationals to take up employment in the Kingdom, received a false alarm claiming that a bomb had been planted on board. The aircraft returned to Colombo. During the evacuation, there was a passenger stampede in the wake of which one Sri Lankan woman died, 62 were injured, and 17 were hospitalized. The aircraft had taken on a load of 420 passengers in Colombo.^[27] According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka, the probable cause was a "Breakdown of timely and effective communication amongst Aerodrome Controller and Ground Handling (SriLankan Airlines) personnel had prevented a timely dispatch of the stepladders to the aircraft to deplane the passengers in a timely manner, which resulted in the Pilot-In-Command to order an emergency evacuation of the passengers through slides after being alarmed by the bomb threat."^[28]
On 25 May 2008, a leased aircraft operating under Saudi Arabian Airlines as Flight SV-806 from Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Airport, Madinah made an unscheduled landing at Zia International Airport (now Shahjalal International Airport), Dhaka. During the roll the tower controller reported that he saw a fire on the right hand wing. Upon vacating the runway, the crew received a fire indication for engine number three. The fire extinguisher was activated and all engines were shut down. The aircraft, a Boeing 747-357, which was damaged beyond repair, was successfully evacuated.^[29] Only minor injuries were incurred.^[30] Investigations revealed a fuel leak where the fuel enters the front spar for engine number three.^[29]
On 5 January 2014, a leased Boeing 767 operating under Saudia was forced to make an emergency landing at Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport in Medina after landing gear failed to deploy. 29 people were injured in the incident.^[31]^[32]
On 5 August 2014, a Boeing 747-400 (reg. HZ-AIX) operating as flight 871 from Manila to Riyadh veered off the runway 24 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila while positioning for takeoff. No one on the plane or on ground were injured.^[33]

References

↑ Network Map Saudia. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
↑ "Saudi Arabian Airlines Ground Services Company: Private Company Information". Businessweek. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
↑ Reed Business Information Limited. "Airline Business top 100 airlines rankings - Middle East". Retrieved 24 April 2015.
↑ "Economy and Infrastructure" (PDF). Saudi Embassy. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
↑ Commercial Aviation
↑ "Embraer wins $400m Saudi jet deal". BBC News. 28 March 2006. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
↑ "Saudi Air Lauches [sic] Privatization With Catering Unit". Retrieved 14 September 2007.
↑ "Saudi cabinet okays Saudi Arabian Airlines privatisation". Retrieved 14 September 2007.
↑ "Arabian Aerospace - Saudia plays the name game, joins the alliance and gets privatisation rolling". Arabian Aerospace. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
↑ "Our Fleet". Retrieved 24 April 2015.
↑ Hanware, Khalil (19 April 2016). "Flyadeal’s launch puts Saudia at higher altitude". Arab News (Jeddah). Retrieved 20 April 2016.
↑ ch-aviation.com - Saudia retrieved 20 December 2015
1 2 3 "Saudia to wet-lease two more B747-400 freighters". ch-aviation. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
↑ Saudi Arabian Airlines Fleet Details and History Plane Spotters. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
↑ "Mobile & WiFi". Retrieved 24 April 2015.
↑ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network.
↑ "HZ-AAE Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
↑ "Hijacking description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
↑ "HZ-AAK Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
↑ "Accident Database: Accident Synopsis 12231980". Air Disaster. 23 December 1980. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
↑ Hijacking description at the Aviation Safety Network
↑ "Saudi hijack passengers freed". BBC World. 14 October 2000. Retrieved December 25, 2010.
↑ "Hijacked Saudi plane returns safely to Riyadh". Saudi Embassy. 2000-09-16. Retrieved December 25, 2010.
↑ "Saudi Hijacker Extradited". USA Today. 18 November 2003. Retrieved December 25, 2010.
↑ Hijacking description at the Aviation Safety Network
↑ "Accident information: Boeing 747 Saudi Arabian Airlines HZ-AIO". Airfleets. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
↑ "Bomb hoax triggers panic at Sri Lanka airport," Asian Political News. 12 September 2005
↑ "Final report: Accident of Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight SV-781, Boeing 747-368, Registration HZ-AIP, oN 08 September 2005 at Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake – Sri Lanka" (Archive) Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka. p. 11. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
1 2 "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 747-357 TF-ARS Dhaka-Zia International Airport (DAC)". Aircraft Safety Network. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
↑ "Saudi plane catches fire at ZIA". The Daily Star. 26 March 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
↑ "Plane Crash Lands in Saudi Holy City". The Wall Street Journal.
↑ "Saudi Plane Makes Emergency Landing, 29 Hurt". Gulf Business. Reuters. 5 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
↑ "Saudia plane overshoots NAIA runway (MNL)". ABS CBN News. Retrieved 5 August 2014.

External links

Media related to Saudi Arabian Airlines at Wikimedia Commons

Airlines of Saudi Arabia

Al Anwa Aviation ASACO Dallah Avco Flynas Mid East Jet Saudia SNAS Aviation SaudiGulf

Members of SkyTeam

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