March 02 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines will carry passengers twice weekly to Jeddah through a code-share deal with Saudi Arabian, Arabian Airlines, the company said Thursday. The Tuesday and Thursday flights will start on March 27, making Jeddah the 51st destination Sri Lankan carries passengers to.
Jeddah is SriLankan Airlines™ third destination in Saudi Arabia and the ninth in the airline™s Middle East route network.
Over 500,000 Sri Lankans are estimated to be working and living in Saudi Arabia, with a significant number of them in Jeddah,” SriLankan Airlines™ Head of Worldwide Passenger Sales, Manoj Gunawardena said in a statement.
Jeddah is also the principal gateway to Mecca, the holiest city of Islam, which attracts and estimated three million visitors each year.
In 2006, SriLankan Airlines expanded its services to the Middle East, increasing frequencies to a number of destinations including Dubai and Doha, in a strategy to offer greater convenience for passengers traveling through its Colombo hub.
The addition of Jeddah to SriLankan Airlines™ Middle East network is also expected to complement the airline™s Indian network, sp