Saudi Arabian Airlines, the kingdom’s national air carrier, is launching a low-cost religious tour programme, Transit Umrah Package, for expatriates flying out of Dubai, officials said.
The fare of a Dubai-Madina-Mumbai flight will cost as low as Dh1,600. The package includes economy-class airfare for the sector as well as a three-day stay, airport transfers and visa fee.
This is the airline’s first such move.
P. Abdul Karim, general manager of Al Ghaith and Al Moosa Travel Agency, the airline’s general sales agencts in Dubai, said, “We are deploying 28 Boeing 474-400s to carry passengers from June 22. The move is aimed to offer outbound vacationers a good value-for-money travel options which will enable them to perform Umrah.”
Deployment of 28 Boeings will help travellers get tickets easily.
Saudi Arabian Airlines’ economy class airfare for Dubai-Madina-Jeddah-Dubai is about Dh2,030.
“We made the package extremely cheaper for travellers. This will help them get an easy booking, utilise the travel while performing religious duties during the peak season.”
Outbound annual vacationers who travel during school holidays starting mid-June will find the package a good value for money.
The airline expects to carry a total of 12,320 passengers in these 28 flights over the next two months.
The airlines has flown about 145,000 passengers out of Dubai last year, including 7,500 Hajj pilgrims, Karim said, adding “traffic is growing steadily and we expect to carry an extra 12,000-to-15,000 passengers this year, on top of last year’s figures,” he said.
“We operate 35 weekly flights out of Dubai and Sharjah to various destinations in Saudi Arabia, including 14 weekly flights on Dubai-Riyadh sector, seven weekly flights each between Dubai-Jeddah and Dubai-Dahran routes, two weekly flights between Sharjah and Madina,” said Karim.
Al Moosa Travel Agency will handle the visa formalities for passengers availing of the new package.
Gulf News
