JEDDAH — Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA), the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, touched down in Surabaya and Medan, for the first time as a regular scheduled service – connecting Jeddah to the southern and northern Indonesian cities.

The inaugural routes to Medan and Surabaya were marked with a special ribbon and cake- cutting ceremony, prior to departure from Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International airport in the late evening local time last Oct. 28, and touched down in the afternoon in both cities the following day.

The flights are operated as two separate routes with dedicated widebody Boeing 747 aircraft, availing 450 seats. Jeddah to Surabaya begins as a four-times-weekly service, while Medan is a twice-weekly service.

Upon arrival at Surabaya’s International Airport (SUB), the airline’s senior delegation were met by the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the Republic of Indonesia Osama Bin Mohammad Abdullah Al-Shuaibi, as well as aviation, airport officials and members of the media were present to attend the event in Surabaya.

Senior government officials in attendance included: Dr. H. Saifullah Yusuf – Vice Governor on behalf of Dr. H. Soekarwo, Governor of East Java; Sulaiman, Head of Tourism Department, Region Surabaya on behalf of Mrs. Nia Niscaya, Deputy Ministry of Tourism; Dadun Kohar, Head of Airport Region III on behalf of Mohammad Pramintohadi Sukarno, Director General of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Transportation; and DR. Muhajirin Yasin, Head Section of Umrah & Haj, Ministry of Religious Affair on behalf of Prof. Dr. Nizar Ali, Director General of Umrah & Haj.

Speeches and traditional folklore presentations and exchanges were made in the presence of guests to welcome the inaugural flight on the historic occasion.

The airline has a long-standing link between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, when the first route began to Jakarta in 1985 with two weekly flights. The airline currently operates 24 flights per week from Riyadh, Madinah, and Jeddah to Jakarta, with a state-of-the-art Boeing 777-300.

With the additional new routes, SAUDIA’s strengthens its ties with the Indonesian travel trade and welcomes new guests travelling from the two cities to experience the airline’s onboard hospitality.

Flying to more than 90 destinations worldwide, with a modern, mixed fleet of 155 narrow and widebody aircraft, the fleet is set to grow to more than 200 aircraft by 2020. — SG