Aviation

LCC Sama Airlines to connect India with Saudi Arabia

Nijhawan Travel Service, Akbar Travels appointed as GSAs

SANJEEV BHAR - New Delhi

After receiving approval from the Indian civil aviation ministry, Saudi Arabian low-cost carrier Sama Airlines is now confident of starting its direct flight from Saudi Arabia to Indian cities soon.

Kevin Steele, its director (sales), said, "In principle, the civil aviation ministry has agreed to have direct connectivity between India and Saudi Arabia, which earlier had to be reached through connecting flights. We are now awaiting approval from DGCA and hope to start operations by November subject to approval." The airline plans to start selling the route from September onwards. The company has appointed Nijhawan Travel Service as its GSA for north India and Akbar Travels for the south India.

In January this year, the civil aviation ministry signed a deal with the Saudi Arabia government to enhance the air traffic between the two nations. The development also comes in the wake of the end of monopoly by Air India in the Middle East region, which ceased to exist after December 31, 2007. As per the governments the existing traffic of 8,500 seats per week was increased to 20,000 seats per week.

Citing this opportunity, Steele said, "We have already identified Delhi and Mumbai for the direct connectivity with Riyadh, Jeddah and Damman in Saudi Arabia and will be looking out for more cities. After landing at these three international airports, travellers can go to other points in Saudi Arabia through Sama Airlines."

Speaking about the frequency of flights, he informed, "The number of flights will depend on the seats we are allowed to operate. We have signed a bilateral agreement, which distributes seats among three Indian carriers that would operate on these routes. Considering that we operate Boeing 737 with 147 economy seats, we expect to get above 30 flights per week."

The strategy is to offer passengers a discount of 60 per cent on the actual fares if seats are booked before a designated time period. "We are also planning to offer customers with sets of fares for two or more destinations at one go for different travel dates, which can be booked at once. We also plan to sell Indian destinations to Saudi travellers through Sama Holidays," Steele concluded.