Air traffic from Saudi to India set to surge

LANDMARK AGREEMENT: Air travel is about to get a whole lot more competitive between Saudi Arabia and India.

India and Saudi Arabia have agreed to allow their airlines to add more flights between the two countries and ply a larger number of routes, India's Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia is a lucrative destination for Indian airlines as it has a large expatriate Indian population and also attracts over 100,000 Indians during the annual Haj pilgrimage.

Saudi and Indian carriers can now fly up to 20,000 passengers per week between the two destinations, up from the 8,500 permitted earlier, starting immediately.

Currently, 58 flights, operated by state-run Air India and Saudi Arabian Airlines, link the two countries.

Jet Airways, the only private Indian airline that is permitted to fly abroad, has also applied to fly the route, a company spokesman said.

The agreement allows Saudi airlines to add three more Indian cities to their routes, while Indian carriers can now fly to the holy city of Medina, in addition to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.

India and South Arabia have also decided to free up all limitations on cargo services. There will be no restriction in terms of frequency for operating cargo services. (Reuters)

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USER COMMENTS (1 COMMENTS)

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RUH-NGP-HYD ( Riyadh-Nagpur-Hyderabad)
Posted by Moin S Khan, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 26 January 2008 at 12:42 UAE time

Hi my name is Moin Khan working in Riyadh capital city of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I am from Nagpur city, India. I have some suggestions that I want to share with Saudi Arabian Air Lines. If SA can start new route as RUH-HYD via NGP I think it will be good to capture the market in Vidarbha region (Maharashtra state) and border of Andhara Pradesh state Region too.

As of now Air Arabia is doing all Saudi passengers from JED, RUH, DAM they are collecting in Sharjah. If Saudi Arabian Air lines starts than we will have direct flight to Nagpur via Hyderabad. In this weekly flight will work very well and day by day passenger will start to increase on the same route.

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