Saudia to handle summer rush

the seat capacity in the summer of 2010.

Samar Al-Ghamdi, a tourist adviser working for a local tourism company, said local destinations are gaining the interest of Saudi travelers due to unstable political situation in neighboring countries. She claimed that increasing the capacity of local flights was a must to tackle the higher demand on local tourist destinations.

“We have noticed that the crowds have increased in local airports following the Arab Spring,” she said. “For the past three years, we have had Ramadan in the summer, which encouraged most expats to spend Ramadan in the Kingdom and also to bring their relatives to perform Umrah.”

According to Al-Ghamdi, there is no doubt that they have been struggling to find seats to local destinations such as Jeddah, Abha, and Jazan.

Fahad Abdulrahman, a Saudi employee working at a private bank, said Saudis are unable to finance international travel due to the high cost of trips. “Inflation and the unstable political situation in Arab countries have stopped most middle-class families from traveling to low-cost countries such as Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. In contrast, some Saudis are trying to get loans to fund international trips, but then struggle to repay their debt. As a result, middle-class Saudis are currently demanding flights to local destinations,” he said.