Oneworld alliance member Qatar Airways has announced plans to expand its activities in Saudi Arabia as it still awaits final approval to establish its own operation in the country under the Al Maha Airways brand. The airline will add an eighth destination to its network in the country with a non-stop connection from its Hamad International Airport hub in Doha and Abha.
The new four times weekly link to Abha, the capital of Asir, a south-western province in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a location gaining popularity in the region as a tourist destination due to attractions such as its mild seasonal weather and fertile mountains, will commence from September 2, 2015 and will be flown using an Airbus A320.
Qatar Airways has been continuously expanding its services to Saudi Arabia since it began serving the Kingdom in 1997 with non-stop flights to Jeddah. Since then the airline has added Riyadh, Dammam, Madinah and Gassim, Ta’if and Al Hofuf to its portfolio of destinations. It currently operates 82 weekly flights into the country and will grow that to 86 from July 17, 2015 when it boosts its Doha – Gassim services from eight to ten weekly.
"We have been steadily growing our presence and services to Saudi Arabia," said His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, chief executive officer, Qatar Airways Group. "As our eighth destination, Abha will bring additional flexibility for passengers connecting from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.”
“From Abha, passengers will be able to travel seamlessly through our Doha hub to popular cities such as London, Paris, Bangkok, Singapore, New York and Washington, and at the same time this will provide passengers travelling to Saudi Arabia the convenience of another gateway within the same country,” he added.
Qatar Airways will be the first of the big three Gulf carriers to introduce a hub connection to Abha Regional Airport and will complement the offerings currently available with local flag carrier Saudia via Jeddah and Riyadh and EgyptAir via Cairo.
Our analysis shows the growth of Qatar Airways’ activities in the Saudi Arabian market over the past ten years. The airline boosted annual capacity from Doha to the Kingdom by 436.4 per cent between 2005 and 2014, an average annual rise of 48.5 per cent. Ahead of the Abha announcement, the Gulf carrier already planned to boost capacity into Saudi Arabia by 8.3 per cent this year versus 2014, based upon published flight schedules.
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