Saudia, Middle-East Airlines-Air Liban expand codeshare agreement

Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA), the national flag carrier of KSA, and Middle East Airlines-Air Liban (MEA), the national flag carrier of Lebanon, have expanded their existing bilateral codeshare agreement.

This follows from an existing partnership, which started in 2007, on MEA-operated flights between Beirut, Lebanon and Dammam, KSA. The expanded agreement now includes all flights sold and operated by MEA and SAUDIA between Beirut and Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.

This will effectively bring the total number of scheduled flights operated by SAUDIA and MEA between the two countries to 57 weekly flights, broadening the offering of both carriers. Both carriers are member of the SkyTeam Alliance providing respective eligible top tier frequent flyer members with a bouquet of privileges on SkyTeam operated international flights, including lounge access, priority services and excess luggage allowance.

SAUDIA currently flies 19 weekly flights from Jeddah and Riyadh to Beirut. MEA operates 38 weekly flights from Lebanon to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.

Both airlines are long standing carriers in the Middle East region; MEA’s first flight to Saudi Arabia was in 1945 and SAUDIA first begun flying to Lebanon in 1948.

Details:

Flights operated by MEA which are part of the expanded codeshare agreement:

Flight Number	Codeshare Number	Days	From	DEP	To	ARR
ME364	SV6034	1234567	BEY	08:55	JED	11:25
ME365	SV6037	1234567	JED	12:25	BEY	14:50
ME368	SV6038	1234567	BEY	17:45	JED	20:15
ME369	SV6015	1234567	JED	21:15	BEY	23:40
ME424	SV6016	1234567	BEY	08:30	RUH	10:50
ME425	SV6057	1234567	RUH	11:50	BEY	14:15
ME422	SV6056	1234567	BEY	17:50	RUH	20:10
ME423	SV6067	1234567	RUH	21:10	BEY	23:35
ME442	SV6036	1234567	BEY	17:35	DMM	20:05
ME443	SV6035	1234567	DMM	20:55	BEY	23:30
ME444	SV6066	457	BEY	07:10	DMM	09:40
ME445	SV6065	457	DMM	10:30	BEY	13:05

Flights operated by SAUDIA which are part of the expanded codeshare agreement:

Flight Number	Codeshare Number	Days	From	DEP	To	ARR
SV641	ME4641	12357	JED	09:40	BEY	12:45
SV641	ME4641	46	JED	09:20	BEY	12:25
SV642	ME4642	124567	BEY	14:00	JED	17:05
SV645	ME4645	457	JED	14:10	BEY	17:15
SV646	ME4646	57	BEY	18:30	JED	21:35
SV643	ME4643	12357	RUH	11:05	BEY	14:45
SV643	ME4643	46	RUH	10:45	BEY	14:25
SV644	ME4644	12357	BEY	16:00	RUH	19:35
SV644	ME4644	46	BEY	16:00	RUH	19:30
SV647	ME4647	13	RUH	14:05	BEY	17:45
SV648	ME4648	13	BEY	19:00	RUH	22:35

1= Monday

BEY - Rafic Hariri International Airport, Beirut
DMM - King Fahd International Airport, Dammam

JED - King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah
RUH - King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh

Flynas adds flights to Riyadh and Jeddah via Etihad partnership

Source: flynas. 

Effective 23 June, 2016, flynas will add a second daily service between Riyadh in KSA and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, increasing its combined offer with Etihad Airways to four daily services. Also on 23 June, flynas will enter the Jeddah – Abu Dhabi market with a daily flight which will complement Etihad Airways’ existing thrice daily services. Together, both carriers will offer four daily services linking Jeddah and the capital of the UAE.

This comes as part of an expanded codeshare agreement between the two airlines signed in October 2012. The codeshare agreement allows flynas to place its ‘XY’ code on multiple Etihad Airways’ flights between Abu Dhabi and 20 destinations on its global network. In addition to Riyadh and Jeddah, Etihad Airways currently serves Dammam and Madinah, offering a total of 63 weekly flights to KSA. With the new services, flynas will offer 14 weekly flights from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi and seven weekly flights from Jeddah to Abu Dhabi.

The additional flights from flynas will be operated by a two-class Airbus A320 aircraft, offering an additional 3,416 seats per week, and ensuring maximum connectivity through Etihad Airways’ Abu Dhabi hub to key destinations in North America, Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia.

Gregory Kaldahl, Etihad Airways’ Senior Vice President Network, said: “The expanding of our codeshare with flynas reflects our commitment to the key market of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The new flynas services will offer business and leisure travellers greater choice and better flight connection in their travel to Riyadh, Jeddah and Abu Dhabi to Etihad Airways’ worldwide network.”

Bander Al Mohanna, CEO of NAS Holding, said. “Since its launch in December 2015, we have seen a significant increase in traffic on our daily Riyadh to Abu Dhabi route, owing to the strong demand for travel between the two capitals.

“By doubling the frequency of flights between these two strategically important destinations, we are pleased to offer our guests increased flexibility, more choice and greater convenience.

“The launch of the additional flights is also a true testament to the success of our codeshare partnership with the UAE’s national airline, Etihad Airways, with whom we look forward to continue expanding our services in the future, most immediately with the introduction of daily flights between Jeddah and Abu Dhabi from 23 June, which will further widen the choice available to guests traveling in both directions for business or leisure.”

Flynas Riyadh, Jeddah and Abu Dhabi schedule effective 23 June 2016 (all times local)

Flight No,	Origin	Destination	Departs	Arrives	Frequency	Aircraft
518	Abu Dhabi	Jeddah	03:30	05:20	Daily	A320
517	Jeddah	Abu Dhabi	06:20	10:10	Daily	A320
220	Abu Dhabi	Riyadh	15:25	16:10	Daily	A320
219	Riyadh	Abu Dhabi	17:40	20:30	Daily	A320
222	Abu Dhabi	Riyadh	21:20	22:05	Daily	A320
221	Riyadh	Abu Dhabi	22:50	01:35	Daily	A320