Tourism & Hospitality | Wednesday 30 May, 2018 5:18 am |

The new Jeddah International Airport opened Tuesday to operate a select number of flights as part of a soft-opening phase.

The first flight — an Airbus A320 — to Gurayat, a northern domestic airport in Saudi Arabia, departed the new Jeddah airport at 05:15 a.m. on Tuesday and arrived at 07:10 a.m. in Gurayat.

“Today is a highly momentous occasion for the nation, the airline, and for the 137 valued guests that flew to Gurayat on SV1291,” said Saudi Arabian Airlines Vice President Corporate Communications Eng. Abdulrahman Altayeb.

He said the gradual transition of the Saudia fleet to the new Jeddah international airport means that capacity will significantly increase, and the overall guest experience will be transformed with the state-of-the-art systems that are now in place.

Earlier this month, Saudia opened the new Al Fursan domestic lounge at the new airport for its loyalty club members and premium guests.

The existing airport in Jeddah and the new terminal will continue to operate concurrently, with a majority of the Saudia network set to remain operating from the existing main airport.

A phased transition will take place. Passengers will be notified and tickets will be clearly marked, indicating which terminal the flight will be operating out of.

The airline is currently on an accelerated transformation track, revitalizing every aspect of its airline business, from operations, to fleet management, network growth and optimization, guest experience and expanding Haj and Umrah capacity.