Saudia Airlines, the official airlines of Saudi Arabia, on Sunday became the 18th airline to commence direct flight operations from Saudi Arabia to Thiruvananthapuram international airport.
The A330 aircraft with 267 passengers and 13 crew that landed from the Saudi capital Riyadh at 12.15 p.m. was given a water salute by the fire tenders of Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Airport Director George G. Tharakan and senior officials received the passengers and the crew.
First passenger
Richard Nutall, the airline’s vice president, Sales, was the first passenger of the maiden flight.
The airline has plans to increase the weekly five flights from the ports in Saudi Arabia to the State capital to daily from January 2018, Mr Tharakan said.
Consul General of Saudi Arabia in Mumbai said that I. Garney was the first passenger in the maiden flight that departed from here to Riyadh at 1.30 p.m.
The arriving and departed passengers of the Saudia was greeted with flowers and sweets by the airline staff at the international terminal.
The airline will operate for three days from Riyadh and two days from Jeddah.
The aircraft deployed in the sector can carry 298 passengers in economy class and 36 in business class.
The flights in the noon is a relief to the airport operations wing and other stake-holders like immigration, customs and ground hanging personnel.
Breather
The flight operations by Saudia, after overcoming many hurdles, has also come as a breather to the non-resident Keralites in the cities of Riyadh and Jeddah.
Dammam, the other major city where Keralites are in large numbers, has air connectivity with the State capital.
From Dammam
It is to be seen whether the airline will operate from Dammam when the frequency is increased in January next.
