Saudia, formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, announced recently that it would begin nonstop flights from Los Angeles, California to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, starting in April 2014.
The announcement was advertised to attendees of the U.S.-Saudi Business Opportunities Forum in Los Angeles, where Saudia had a physical presence to make the attendees aware of the new service.
Saudia is expanding its service to Los Angeles (LAX), with a non-stop flight from Riyadh starting in 2014. Photo by Khalid Habash for SUSTG.org.
The flights will take place three times weekly, and will be the only non-stop flight from Los Angeles direct to Saudi Arabia.
Saudia carries 26 million passengers a year, with 14.5 million local passengers traveling domestically. However, Saudia is moving to expand international service as it continues with privatization efforts.
Saudia has four international airports, and three of them are currently experiencing large-scale developments (Jeddah, Medina, and Riyadh), according to Khaled Al-Molhem, director general of Saudia. Given Saudi Arabia’s “perfect placement between East and West,” the carrier is in position for international growth, Al-Molhem said.
Saudia, a nearly completely privatized company, is also focused on growing its air cargo carrier, Saudia Cargo, which ships to 225 international destinations and 26 domestic destinations in Saudia’s global network. A new “global cargo village” at King Abdullaziz International Airport is under construction and will dramatically increase Saudia Cargo’s processing and delivery capabilities.
Kahled Al-Molhem delivered a presentation on the U.S.-Saudi Business Opportunities Forum’s Transportation and Logistics Panel on Tuesday, September 17th. Al-Molhem’s presentation can be watched here:
Creating Efficient Transportation, Logistics, and Supply Chain Systems from U.S.-Saudi Forum – Los Angeles on Vimeo.
[Al-Molhem’s speech begins at about 17:30 into the video]
