Cathay Pacific Celebrates Launch of New Service to Jeddah, Its Second Destination in Saudi Arabia

Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday celebrated the launch of its new service to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia's second major commercial city. With this four-time weekly service operating through Dubai on the way to and from Hong Kong, the airline now serves the Kingdom with a total of 11 flights each week.

The airline's Chief Executive, Tony Tyler, officiated at the inaugural celebration for the launch of flights to Jeddah, held at the leading hotel in the city, and attended by nearly 300 guests. Guests included Mr Abdul Elah Falemban, Secretary of Supervisory Committee of the King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA), Mr Ziad Sudairi, President of Arabian International Service Company (AISC), members of various local authorities and the diplomatic community in the Kingdom, and representatives from Saudi Arabia's travel industry.

Cathay Pacific launched its service to Jeddah on 26 October. The new service, operated by an Airbus A330-300 aircraft in a two-class configuration, will increase the airline's presence in the increasingly important Middle Eastern market. The airline began flights to the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, in 2001, increasing the number of flights from five times a week to daily from 1 August this year in response to sustained demand.

Speaking at the Jeddah inaugural celebration, Mr Tyler said the new service to Jeddah is an important development that opens up the western region of Saudi Arabia to the Cathay Pacific network, meaning the airline is able to provide Saudi Arabian travellers with more flexibility and convenience when travelling to the Far East and beyond.

"The launch of Jeddah - our airline's 46th online passenger destination - highlights our commitment to the Saudi Arabian market and to the dynamic Middle East region in general. This new service will help to connect business and leisure passengers to Cathay Pacific's extensive international network, and also open up new opportunities for airfreight from the Kingdom."

Links between Saudi Arabia and China, Hong Kong and Asia in general have clearly been growing in recent years," Mr Tyler said. "We at Cathay Pacific are proud to be able to play a part in helping them to grow even stronger through the addition of our latest destination."

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Mr Tony Tyler to present a souvenir to Mr Abdul Elah Falemban, Secretary of Supervisory Committee of the King Abdulaziz International Airport at the event held in Jeddah to celebrate the airline's new service launch in Saudi Arabia

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Mr Tony Tyler (center), Mr Abdul Elah Falemban, Secretary of Supervisory Committee of the King Abdulaziz International Airport (2nd from left), Mr. Ziad Sudairi, President of Arabian International Service Company (2nd from right), Mr. Tom Wright, Cathay Pacific General Manager Middle East, India, Africa & Pakistan (right), and Mr Daniel Cheung, Cathay Pacific Country Manager Bahrain, Saudi Arabia (left), to celebrate the airline's new service to Jeddah