Saudia’s LA-Riyadh direct flight set to make history

Saudi Arabian Airlines which operates as Saudia will achieve a rare feat on Friday when its first non-stop flight from Los Angeles will touch down at the King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) in Riyadh. 

“An ultra-modern Saudia Boeing B777-300ER will be making this historic flight taking more than 16 hours, one of the longest flights in commercial aviation today,” a KKIA official said on Thursday.
The departure time for flight SV044 in Los Angeles is 1930 hrs while arrival at KKIA is 2140 hrs.
Notably, this non-stop flight will be limited to the month of August, the airline’s peak period. However, the service is expected to be restored in the future to fulfill the needs of Saudi students, the diplomatic community as well as business travelers who prefer to fly non-stop to the Saudi capital from Southern California in the US.

This non-stop flight will have 24 seats in first class, 36 in business class and 245 seats in its guest class.
The Saudia media director was not available for comment, despite repeated calls from Arab News.
Known for its quality service, the national flag carrier launched its Los Angeles to Jeddah non-stop service on March 31 last year. It started with three flights a week and is operating five flights per week during the summer peak season. The Los Angeles to Jeddah non-stop flight is almost two hours shorter.
Significantly, besides Los Angeles, Saudia flies daily from New York’s JFK and Washington’s Dulles International, and three times a week from Toronto Pearson International Airport.

All flights are non-stop either to Jeddah or Riyadh, with convenient connections to all Saudi domestic points and beyond Saudi Arabia to its international gateways in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.
Saudia currently flies to more than 80 destinations. As a member of SkyTeam global airline alliance, it also has access to more than 1,000 worldwide destinations serviced by the alliance’s 20 members.

Saudia recently announced the acquisition of 50 new Airbus 320 aircraft.
Orders have also been placed for eight Boeing B787-900 Dreamliners and the first aircraft is expected by the end of the year.