Sama announces a number of major customer service initiatives

Sama will fly 6 weekly flights between Jeddah, Riyadh, and Beirut and 4 weekly flights between Jeddah, Riyadh and Aleppo.

"We are delighted to announce our first international charter flights to Beirut, and to Aleppo. This is in response to overwhelming public demand for increased services and lower fares for travel between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon/Syria. Beirut is one of the most popular and preferred destinations for our guests and we see Aleppo as having significant untapped potential. I would like to thank the Civil Aviation Authorities in all the countries concerned for their trust and support of Sama in facilitating the licenses we need to serve these route" said Andrew Cowen, CEO of Sama, in a press conference held following arrival at Beirut.

Andrew Cowen also took opportunity to announce the launch of a new customer loyalty initiative: "We are very pleased to also announce our "Frequent Traveller" initiative, which is the first of its kind, in the Middle East . This scheme is designed to reward those passengers who choose Sama as their preferred airline to travel around Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. We have designed the scheme to be as simple as possible. We will offer the "Frequent Traveller" a free flight for every 9 flights taken during a calendar year, starting on 15th January 2008. All the passenger needs to do, is show 9 boarding passes from flights flown by them in a calendar year, and they can earn one free flight to any Sama destination (domestic or international). This is planned to be one of the best and most unique loyalty programs in the Middle East and is in keeping with our ongoing objective to simplify travel

Faisal al Duhaim, Director of Marketing also announced the a further major initiative in support of students: "To help make travel more affordable for students, Sama's is establishing a Student's 50% Discount available for travel Sama's domestic flights, beginning next week.

Finally Andrew Cowen announced the establishment of a dedicated division within Sama to provide air services to Saudi regional routes, also known as PSO routes. We have already received and commenced operations of a7th aircraft, which will be dedicated to serving these regional routes.

Dedicating an aircraft to these routes will enable Sama to fly with frequencies and departure times to suit the local customers. This should lead to improved customer service as well as the lower fares that Sama has already brought to the rest of the Kingdom. We expect to add further dedicated aircraft as more of these routes are transferred from Saudia.