Saudi Arabian to become a member of SkyTeam global alliance next year

Saudia will become a full-member of the alliance – which includes airlines such as Air France-KLM, Delta and China Eastern – in 2012.

The airline will be global alliance’s first member from the Middle East, adding 35 new destinations to its network.

Arabian Aerospace reported in November that membership was likely, following agreements with key alliance member Air France-KLM to move to the usually Saudi-only terminal at Jeddah as part of a code sharing deal.

Saudia complements the SkyTeam network by offering customers access to destinations across the Middle East not currently served by SkyTeam members. Through Saudi Arabia's major hubs of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, travelers can connect to new destinations on the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and Northern Africa. Examples are Alexandria, Aden, Colombo and Islamabad.

SkyTeam members will have access to new potential customers from the region as Saudi Arabian Airlines offers direct flights to Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States. Customers can transfer to SkyTeam partner flights via hubs such as Paris, Rome, Nairobi and New York-JFK. SkyTeam partner China Southern also offers regular connections to Asia from Jeddah.

Director General of Saudi Arabian Airlines, Eng. Khalid Al-Molhem, said yesterday that joining SkyTeam will add value to the carrier's services: "The SkyTeam network provides our customers with excellent connections to most parts of the world. Through the exchange of services and knowledge between all member airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines can achieve qualitative improvements, made available to our customers. These include airport services, ground services and First Class and Business Class passenger lounges."

The airline   is heavily focused on its four-year turnaround programme – usually a key requisite of membership of an Alliance. Saudia’s reorganisation will be completed by 2013. Key elements of this plan include modernisation of its infrastructure, restructuring of its domestic and international network and implementing its fleet modernisation plan through the purchase of advanced aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing,

Marie-Joseph Male, Managing Director of SkyTeam, added: "Announcing our first new member in 2011 clearly illustrates the continuing global expansion that we accelerated last year. In 2010, China Eastern and its daughter company Shanghai Airlines, China Airlines, Garuda Indonesia and Aerolineas Argentinas all confirmed their future membership in SkyTeam. Adding Saudi Arabian Airlines will definitely complement our network offer to our customers."