Ferit Aksun

SAUDI AIRLINES

Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) is the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. SAUDIA started out in 1945 with a single twin-engine DC-3 (Dakota) HZ-AAX given to King Abdul Aziz as a gift by the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This was followed months later with the purchase of two more DC-3s, and these formed the nucleus of what in few years later was to become one of the world's largest airlines. Today, Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) has more than one hundred and forty four (144) aircraft, including the latest and most advanced aircraft types: Boeing 777-300, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A330 Regional, of which SAUDIA is the ‘Global Launch Customer and Operator' of, A320 and A321. SAUDIA's main operational base is at Jeddah-King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED). Other major hubs are Riyadh-King Khalid International Airport (RUH), and Dammam-King Fahd International Airport (DMM). As a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO), Air Transport Association (IATA), and SKYTEAM alliance, SAUDIA operates domestic and international scheduled flights to more than 95 destinations across four continents.