Sama official launched flights to Dammam and Riyadh

• Within less than 7 months of starting operations
• Sama reached 500,000 passengers

An official launch function is being held today at Sharjah which was attended by top officials of the Department of Civil Aviation, heads of various government departments and executives of the travel trade in the region. Prominent among them were Sheikh Faisal Bin Khalid Al Qasimi, Chairman of Orient Travel, Sheikh Saud Bin Khalid Al Qasimi, Advisor to the Ruler of Sharjah, Dr. Ghanem Al Hajri, Director General Civil Aviation and other dignitaries. Mr. Andrew Cowen, CEO of Sama flew in from Saudi Arabia to attend the function.

Sheikh Faisal Al Qasimi, Chairman of Orient Travel added "We are delighted with this association especially because Sharjah was selected as the first international destination of Sama. We can assure Sama of all the support and also look forward to support from the travel trade and the community"

"We are delighted to announce our first international flights. We are the first low fare airline in Saudi Arabia to operate to the destinations of Abu Dhabi and Sharjah and we have chosen the U.A.E. for our first destinations 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 U.A.E. for their trust and support of Sama and for facilitating the licenses we need to serve these routes" said Andrew Cowen, CEO of Sama.

He went on to say: "the launching of Sama international flights to Sharjah and 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 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 passengers 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."