BY OUR BUSINESS BUREAU

Sharjah welcomed first international chartered flight of Sama on Thursday as the airline starts its UAE operations from Sharjah. The flight landed at 9:30 local time.

Sama announced the start of international chartered flights to the United Arab Emirates, which are to depart from King Fahad International Airport in Dammam and King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh.

Sharjah Airport Authority Director General Dr Ghanem Al Hajri along with other airport officials were at the reception of the flight.

Dr Al Hajri stated: "We are delighted to welcome Sama to Sharjah. We at Sharjah international Airport will always provide the best facilities and state-of-the-art services to all the airlines operating through Sharjah airport. Sama, as the first low fare airline in Saudi Arabia, has great potentials of growth in the Middle East aviation market, and with the start of these new routes there will be positive impact in developing the flow of tourists and business interests between UAE and KSA."

Sama CEO Andrew Cowen announced that: "We are delighted to announce our first international chartered flight. We are the first low fare airline in Saudi Arabia to operate to UAE destinations of Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. We have chosen Sharjah as our first destination in response to overwhelming public demand for the low fares and service that we offer. I would like to thank the General Authority for Civil Aviation in Saudi Arabia and their counterparts in the UAE for their trust and support of Sama and for facilitating the licenses we need to serve these routes."

Sama Chief Executive Commercial Samer Otwi said: "The launching of Sama international flights to Abu Dhabi is a further demonstration of our commitment to increase the choices of those people looking to travel between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Fares begin at SR199 one way from Dammam and SR299 one way from Riyadh which we believe offers unrivalled value to the customer and will enable more people to travel more often between these popular destinations. We look forward to announcing further such destinations shortly".

In addition "the popularity of our low fares offering, ease of booking and wide choice of services" has meant that we have just reached the milestone of 500,000 bookings after just 7 months of operation. This confirms the public's support for the low fares concept and the foresight of Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation in allowing new airlines to enter the Saudi market."