Jazeera Airways eyes growth in Saudi Arabia

Jazeera Airways Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai said; "Our ambition not only complements, but stems from the Kingdom's master plan for increasing the annual number of visitors to Saudi Arabia from 17 million in 2007 to 45.3 million in 2020, and we believe Jazeera Airways can be one of the integral partners of this plan."

"The work of the Saudi Commission for Tourism is very encouraging and shows a determination to meet those targets. Today we see Saudi Arabia mobilizing to stimulate the planned growth as it leads the way from airport facelifts, infrastructure developments, and cultural festiavals, to the recent decision to issue multiple-entry business visas. And we are confident that we can work together on attracting more visitors to the Kingdom from the Middle East and the rest of our network," added Boodai.

Boodai was speaking in Riyadh before an audience of Saudi aviation and tourism dignitaries. As part of an energized economic drive, the Saudi Commission for Tourism (SCT) is currently tasked with increasing inbound trips to 13.1 million by 2020, based on average annual growth of 3.1%.

The Saudi economy accounts for over half of the total output of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and is twice the size of the second largest GCC economy. Further economic indicators highlight that nominal GDP, which was $309.9bn in 2005, is expected to grow to %517.3bn by 2009, thus highlighting the incremental force of the Saudi economy.

Thirty-month old Jazeera Airways began non-stop flights to Saudi Arabia from Kuwait to Jeddah in October 2007 and Riyadh in January 2008.

Jazeera Airways operates a fleet of new Airbus A320s, all owned, and is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE ticker: Jazeera).